October 30, 2005

The 25th Oita International Wheelchair Marathon 112 Omron Group employees volunteer to help out


On October 30th – 31st, a total of 364 athletes from 22 different countries gathered in Oita to take part in the 25th Oita International Wheelchair Marathon. Four members of Omron Group also took part in the race, which is organized by the Oita Prefectural Government and seven other organizations. Omron was among 16 co-sponsors of the event.

Blessed with fine, cool weather, this year’s race was particularly exciting with supporters cheering from the sidelines, dead heat finishes and a new Japanese record set.

At the award presentation ceremony, Toshio Ochiai, Senior General Manager of the Corporate General Affairs Headquarters, presented the Omron Cup to Diane Roy from Canada, who won the women’s full marathon for the second consecutive year. Tokiyoshi Yoshimatsu from Omron Kyoto Taiyo, who has participated in the race for 25 successive years, finished in 51st place, with a time of 1 hour 51 minutes 8 seconds, a tribute to his tireless training.

This year a total of 112 Omron Group employees, including 80 from Omron Relay and Devices Corporation (OER), volunteered to help manage the event. This was the largest number of Omron Group employees ever to help out. As in previous years, they managed a wide variety of tasks such as setting up the venue, crowd control, assisting athletes with their belongings and helping them move from their normal wheelchairs to special racing wheelchairs, manning reception desks, helping athletes line up at the start line and presenting laurel crowns at the finish. Omron employees were by the far the biggest group of volunteers, and their proactive team-work made a substantial contribution to the event’s smooth running. The experience gave all Omron employees, along with their families and co-workers who also joined in, the opportunity to strengthen their awareness of the issues that face people with disabilities.

Oita International Wheelchair Marathon Established in 1981 to coincide with the International Year of Disabled Persons, the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon is intended to strengthen friendship among physically challenged people throughout the world. It also encourages hope, courage and active involvement in society. By participating in the extremely demanding sport of wheelchair marathon racing, athletes seek to expand the limits of their physical and mental strengths as they attempt to beat previous years’ records. Every year, people are impressed by the determination of the wheelchair athletes to triumph over the physical limitations. Omron fully supports the objectives of the International Wheelchair Marathon, and has been an annual co-sponsor of the event since 1988. Omron Group employees, mainly from the Kyushu region of the southern Japan, have been participating as active volunteers for many years.