NEW DELHI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Around 35,000 runners took part in the Delhi half marathon through a smog on Sunday, despite doctors' warnings of a string of possible harm to health and their advocate to postpone the controversial race, reported the Guardian.

The Indian capital has witnessed a killer haze over the past two weeks, during which pollution levels reached 30 times the World Health Organization's recommended limit in some areas of the national capital.

"My eyes are burning, my throat is dry. I have a running nose," said Rohit Mohan, a 30-year-old from Bangalore who wore a mask during the race. "It's been terrible since I landed here yesterday."

However, the majority ran without masks as the alert of air quality has been lowered from a public emergency to "unhealthy," while some chose to skip the event.

"Whatever health benefits we get from running are negated because of the smog. I chose not to run because of the health risks," said Ashish Shakya who decided not to race but watched from the sidelines in a mask.

With the spike of air pollution in the city, doctors say they have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of patients, mostly children and elderly, visiting hospitals every day.

Experts say the air pollution crisis that hits Delhi now regularly every winter is a deadly cocktail mix of weather conditions and uncontrolled effluents being discharged into the atmosphere.

It is made worse with the burning of crop stubble by farmers in neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana whose remnants hang in the air due to zero wind speed.