I'm not talking about the 2:10 guys that used to smoke, I mean runners that are smoking and racing in the same week.
In college we had a teammate that smoked when she went out and I'm sure that she probably smoked at some other times, too, when nobody was looking. I don't remember her times exactly, but she was an 800M runner with a PR of 2:12 or so.
These days, as a recreational runner, I know a drinker/smoker/toker that took a bet to run a marathon and did it in 4:45 or so. I thought to myself, "see, it's cuz you smoke!" But a year later she started running more and hit 3:39 in her 2nd marathon and qualified for Boston. Right after (I mean within 2 hours after) she was in a bar drinking and smoking all while fired up and talking about what her goal is for Boston and how soon she can break 3:30. Yes, I know those times are horribly slow all the 2:15 marathoners out there (LOL) but I think it's pretty good for a low-mileage, late 30s, female runner. She has no motivation to quit because of running since she has made such huge improvements without quitting.
How far can improvement go while still being a smoker?
Who is the fastest smoker you know?