Runners took their sport indoors at a shopping centre in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on Wednesday (October 28) as haze from Indonesian wildfires continued to blanket the region.

At Atria Mall, fitness group Active Chimp organised an indoor run along shop-lined corridors. The group's founder, Keith Tan, said the haze made outdoor running unsafe. Runners lapped the air-conditioned halls, free of traffic, haze and uneven pavements — though some missed tracking their pace outdoors.

The persistent fires have caused hundreds of thousands of cases of respiratory illness in Indonesia and badly affected air quality in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, with the transboundary haze drawing heavy criticism across the region.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA (OCTOBER 28, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS RUNNING PAST SHOPS INSIDE MALL

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF FITNESS BOUTIQUE ACTIVE CHIMP, KEITH TAN, SAYING:

“So I'm the founder of Active Chimp. So we co-organised this event with Atria. So basically it's because of the haze outside, and we see people running outside and we feel like it's actually not so safe to do it now. So hence why we have this initiative of organising an indoor run with Atria Mall, and they are super, super supportive on organising this event.”

3. VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS RUNNING

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARTICIPANT, NICHOLAS CHAN, 58, SAYING:

“It's totally different because, first of all, you don't have GPS, so you cannot see whether the thing (running conditions) accurate or not, and some (further) more this one (building) air con (air-conditioned) (is) a bit dry, so it makes you thirsty faster compared to (when) you run outside. Here, traffic control is very good; you won't crash with what we call the crowd here. So, the organiser organised very well because they take care of all the escalators' entrance(s).”

5. VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS RUNNING

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARTICIPANT, IVAN (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), 35, SAYING:

“I think it's quite fun because it's very, very safe. Running outdoors, you have to worry about cars, whether the pavement is actually even or not. So, running indoors is actually more, I would say, safe and more fun as well.”

7. PARTICIPANTS RUNNING PAST SHOP

8. VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS DOING LUNGES AND STRETCHES

9. PARTICIPANTS AT REGISTRATION DESK

10. VARIOUS OF ATRIA MALL EXTERIOR AT NIGHT