Q In 40 years I’ve never had a problem with hay fever but I now find that midday running during the summer months makes my eyes and nose stream. I don’t have these problems in the winter. Is there anything I can take to stop it?
A The best time to run outside coincides with the peak time for allergens. Pollens from grasses, weeds, flowers or trees, which are carried along by water droplets in the air, land on your nose or throat or you breathe them in. While this has little or no effect on most people, five per cent develop an antigen-antibody reaction, resulting in watery discharge from the nose and eyes and sneezing. These symptoms also make hay fever hard to distinguish from the common cold.
Hay fever is more likely to affect you if a blood relative suffers, but it can begin without warning at any age. This is caused by large quantities of Immuno-globulin E (IgE) releasing histamine, which in turn triggers hay fever. Sodium cromoglicate, in the form of eye drops or nasal spray, should be used as a preventive throughout the hay fever season. On days when your symptoms worsen, try the anti-histamine loratadine. In severe cases, steroid eye drops or nasal sprays (allowable under IOC rules) might be required. In time, often tens of years, the body desensitises itself, and the symptoms regress, but you can do little to expedite this.
If you suffer from hay fever, run when the pollen count is low: after rain, when it’s damp, at cooler times of the day (when less pollen is lifted by warm air), in less rural areas, and out of the wind. If tree pollens are the only allergens that trigger your symptoms, you may be able to run in open country. Trial and inevitable error will determine the best times and places to run in the pollen season.
— Keely Hodgkinson: How the Olympic champion trains Medical Advisor
