Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ Ｃｉｔｉｚｅｎ’ｓ Ｍａｒａｔｈｏｎ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｊａｐａｎ

From February 17 to 21， 2006， a five-member Beijing Citizens’ Marathon Delegation jointly organized and sent by the Beijing Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Beijing General Administration of Sport went to Ome City， Tokyo of Japan to take part in the marathon race. All the marathon runners in the delegation achieved good results.

The Ome Marathon is a large-sized traditional mass sport activity with a long history and extensive influence held in Ome City jointly sponsored by the Ome Municipal Government， the Ome City Athletes Association and the Hochi Shimbun. The Ome Marathon is divided into two categories: 30 kilometres and 10 kilometres. The number of participants at each of the previous races was 15，000 on average. As this year happens to be the 40th anniversary of the race， the number of participants reached a record of 18，000. Most of the runners in the race come from various prefectures in Japan. Besides， the Organizing Committee has also invited Japanese first-class professional runners and runners from some foreign cities that have formed friendship ties with Ome. The Ome Marathon and the world famous Boston Marathon are sister races. Every year the Boston Marathon Organizing Committee sends excellent runners to take part in the Ome Marathon.

As early as some 20 years ago， Beijing began to send professional long distance runners as specially invited contestants to take part in the race every other year and as one of the exchange activities between the friendship cities of Beijing and Tokyo. With the political and economic development of Beijing and from the perspective of widening channels of people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan， since last year the Beijing Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries began to organize citizens’ marathon delegation to take part in the race at the participants’ own expense. The delegation this year is the second one.

As this year happens to be the 40th anniversary of the Ome Marathon， the Organizing Committee made some special arrangements in its agenda. A reception in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Ome Marathon was held on the evening of February 17. The sponsor recalled in various ways the development of the race. For instance， it invited well-known Japanese runners who had achieved excellent results in the race and famous foreign athletes as honoured guests to talk about their friendly relationship with the race. The Beijing Citizen’s Marathon Delegation was also invited to speak at the reception. In the short speech， a representative of the delegation spoke about the history of friendly exchanges between Beijing and Ome through marathon races and expressed the aspiration of the Beijing citizens to strengthen friendship with the Japanese people through sports and other channels.

Ome City has a population of 130，000. On the day of the race about 3，000 citizens offered volunteer service. Thousands of Ome citizens cheered the runners along the race route and spontaneously prepared drinks and food for the runners.

This year， three excellent runners from the Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology were sent to take part in the race. Although they were university students， they had been given professional or quasi-professional training for a long time. During the race， they overcame unfavorable factors such as stomach trouble and pain in the knee， and by exerting their utmost defeated quite a few top foreign runners and achieved admirable success. Yi Miaomiao won the first in 1 hour， 45 minutes and 22 seconds in women’s 30-kilometre marathon race， being the first of Chinese athlete winning the championship of this race. Seen from the angle of professional race， this was a remarkable achievement. Sports Hochi， a famous Japanese newspaper covering sports events， gave the event a great coverage with the bold headline Chinese Wins the Championship for the First Time， and Naoko Takahashi’s Strong Rival from the Host City of the 2008 Olympic Games Visits Japan for the First Time (Naoko Takahashi is the most famous Japanese marathon runner). The other two runners Han Zhengying and Zhao Lihong respectively won the fifth in women’s 30-kilometre marathon race and the 16th in women’s 10-kilometre race.

The delegation participated in this sport exchange activity with the aim of promoting friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people. The good results achieved by the Beijing runners gave us more opportunities to display the spirit of citizens of Beijing， the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games， and express our heartfelt love of sports and peace.

During the delegation’s stay in Japan， the Tokyo and the Ome Japan-China Friendship Associations， the Ome Municipal Government and the Ome City Athletes Association coordinated with one another and arranged matches and visits for the delegation during its stay in Ome and Tokyo.