Two runners who collapsed while taking part in the Hong Kong marathon at the weekend remained hospitalized in critical condition as the race organizer defended the decision to go ahead with the race despite heavy pollution.

The two runners, aged 33 and 53, collapsed Sunday during the Chinese territory's biggest annual foot race in which 40,000 people took part.

The 33-year-old's condition had improved by Monday and he was able to eat, though both men remained critical, said the chairman of event organizer the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, William Ko.

Ko dismissed concerns there were insufficient doctors and first aid staff to help a record 4,800 injured runners, adding most problems were light foot injuries or cramps.

He also defended the decision to stage the race amid the worst air pollution since September.

The air pollution index reached a "very high" 149 in some areas, a level at which local authorities usually issue health warnings for people with heart or respiratory illnesses.

But Ko said an index of 100 before the race was suitable for running.

"We believed the weather was suitable for the marathon," he told reporters on Monday.

Environmental lobby group Clean the Air chairman Annelise Connell criticized the authorities for using outmoded air pollution standards.

"The standard was set in 1987," she said.

"In the United States, anything over 88 is considered very bad. They would send out warnings telling people to avoid prolonged and heavy exertion. In the European Union, anything above 60 is considered unhealthy," she said.

"Every single runner should have been warned. Anyone who had lung disease or heart disease should have been warned," she said. "(Hong Kong) has the standard guaranteed to make people sick."

Pollution is a growing problem in Hong Kong, which is often shrouded in smog from the heavily industrialized Pearl River delta of neighboring southern China.

The government and environmentalists Friends of the Earth Hong Kong estimate that 80 percent of the pollutants recorded in Hong Kong drift in from China, mostly from vehicle exhausts and fumes from factories and power plant.

(AFP February 14, 2006)