Kasumigaura Marathon

Special sponsorship for Kasumigaura Marathon and Kasumigaura International Marathon for people with visual impairment

The 17th Kasumigaura Marathon and Kasumigaura International Marathon for people with visual impairment (Kasumigaura Marathon) was held on April 15, 2007 with the main slogan of "Revive Kasumigaura, water is the source of sports". As last year, we were again a special sponsor for Kasumigaura Marathon as a company based in the area this year.

The Kasumigaura Marathon starts from the athletics field in Kawaguchi Sports Park, Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, and winds around Lake Kasumigaura. As well as the marathon, there are a10-mile race and a 5km race. The Kasumigaura Walking (18.5km) also takes place on the same day. The events attracted about 12,000 people, including our 96 employees. Ms. Arimori (silver medalist at the Barcelona Olympic Games, representative director of the incorporated NPO, Hearts of Gold), and many other famous runners took part in the marathon as support runners for people with visual impairment.

Mr. Chim Phan and Mr. San Mao who have prosthetic legs came from Cambodia to run in the 10-mile race by invitation of the incorporated NPO, Hearts of Gold. They toured our Tsuchiura Works on the day before the race. At a talk at Tsuchiura Works, they said that when they lost their legs because of mines, they became depressed and did not want to do anything for a long time. But the challenge of the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon gave them the will to live. Mr. San Mao, on his first visit to Japan, said he was surprised to see elevated motorways and wanted a plant like Tsuchiura Works in Cambodia.

The 10-mile (about 16km) race was a challenge for them, because although the distance was shorter than the half marathon, they were worried about the Japan's low temperature influence on their legs. However, the day of the race was fine, and they finished the 10 miles without a hitch.

Tsuchiura Works is about 7km from the start of the marathon course. Tsuchiura Works employees supported the runners in front of the works. 200 employees including 140 new recruits volunteered to assist with the event. They offered water to the runners and beat drums to cheer on runners with visual impairment. We will continue to recommend our new employees to join in the cheering because cheering to support the runners actually refreshes the people doing the cheering.

A group of thirteen employees of our group and our business partners assisted five runners with visual impairment. They gave lots of assistance, including meeting them at Tsuchiura station, taking them to a hotel on the day before the race, taking them to the start, introducing them to the pacesetters, and help after their races. Ms. Hosokawa they supported this year again couldn't take part in the 10-mile race because of her poor condition last year. This year she took the challenge of running in the marathon for the first time to make up for last year. Supporters were very anxious, wondering whether she could finish. So they were ecstatic when they saw that she finished so well in the third place. They also heard from Ms. Hosokawa that she could not stop her tears of joy at completing the marathon in bed at night after the race.

Kasumigaura Marathon is relatively easy for beginners because it starts at 10:00am, and ends at 6:00pm. One of the attractions for people who come to cheer on the runners is shopping at stalls. With the cooperation of one of the Group companies, Hitachi Construction Machinery Comec, we set up a stall and sold our goods such as penny racers and plastic models. Unexpectedly, the penny racers were very popular. So we sold them out.

Please send us your opinions and impressions concerning this article.