YMCAインターナショナル・チャリティーランは、障がいのある子どもたちを支援するとともに、”障がい”への社会的な理解と関心を高めることを目的とした駅伝大会です。その参加費は障がいのある子どもたちが様々な体験活動をするための資金として活用させていただきます。
1987年、全国初のチャリティーランが東京で開催され、現在は、YMCAインターナショナル・チャリティーランとして、全国21カ所に広がり、「LOVE ON THE RUN」をスローガンに年間1万2千人以上のみなさまにランナーやボランティアとして参加していただいています。
【ご報告】2024年度YMCAインターナショナル・チャリティーラン
【ご報告】2023年度YMCAインターナショナル・チャリティーラン
【ご報告】2022年度YMCAインターナショナル・チャリティーラン
【ご報告】2021年度YMCAインターナショナル・チャリティーラン
2024年版チャリティーランリーフレットはこちらからご覧いただけます。（PDF 4276KB）
富田 宇宙（とみた・うちゅう／東京2020パラリンピック競技大会・パリ2024パラリンピック競技大会 競泳メダリスト ）
この大会の目的は「障がいのある子どもたちを応援すると共に、障がいへの理解を高めること」。これは正に私自身がパラ水泳を続けてきた目的と重なります。
私は高校２年生のときに網膜色素変性症という難病を発症し、徐々に視力を失っていきました。現在は明るい・暗いが分かる程度の視力しかなく、視覚障がいが最も重いクラスのパラスイマーとして活動しています。
私はパラ水泳に出会って自身や仲間の持つさまざまな可能性に気づき、また人とのつながりを広げていくことができました。今では多様な人々が一緒に過ごせる環境こそが自然な社会であると感じています。パラアスリートとしてスポーツが持つインクルージョンの力を伝えていくこと。それもまた私の大切なライフワークです。
私は小学生のころ熊本YMCAの水泳教室に通っていました。そのつながりもあって、コロナ禍で練習施設が閉鎖された際にもYMCAのプールで練習させていただき、選手として支えてもらいました。恩返ししたいという思いもあって、2024年度から全国大会委員長を務めさせていただいています。昨秋いくつかの大会に参加しましたが、さまざまな人々が応援し合いながら走るこの大会は、想像以上の盛り上がりで、「楽しく走ることが、障がいのある子どもたちの笑顔につながる」という大会の在り方を実感することができました。今年も大会委員長として、このすばらしい循環をさらに盛り上げていきます。
スポーツを楽しむことは、すべての人に与えられるべき権利であり、一生懸命になにかに打ち込む喜びを知ることは、豊かな人生を送るために欠かせない経験の一つです。障がいのある人もない人もみんなでスポーツを楽しめる社会にしたい。そしてあらゆる特性の人々が最大限に力を発揮できる、真の共生社会を築いていきたい。皆様と一緒に協力して進んでいきたいと思います。ご支援ご協力をよろしくお願いします。
Tokyo Paralympic Swimming Medalist, Uchu Tomita
My name is Uchu Tomita, and I am the new chairperson of this year’s YMCA International Charity Run.
When in elementary school, I started taking swimming lessons at the Kumamoto YMCA. I continued swimming and belonged to the swimming club through junior high school and high school. I wasn’t thinking about becoming a competitive swimmer at the time. As my name suggests, I wanted to be an astronaut. During my second year of high school, I developed retinitis pigmentosa. I gradually lost my eyesight, and at the age of 24 began my life in the paralympic swimming world. Currently with my vision condition, I can only tell the difference between lightness and darkness. Now I am a swimmer in the class of severe visual impairment of paralympic swimming.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most swimming facilities were closed, but I was able to keep practicing at the Kumamoto YMCA swimming pool. My family and I were active members the YMCA since my childhood, and I also have been supporting the YMCA International Charity Run for a long time. As the YMCA International Charity Run Chairperson, I would like to provide a wonderful experience for many children, and I will do my best with the help from others who support this program.
The purpose of the YMCA International Charity Run is not only to support children with disabilities, but also “to promote awareness of what are disabilities”. This purpose is also deeply connected to my goal of paralympic swimming. Through my experiences with athletes who have various disabilities, I realized that coexisting with diverse people was a more natural way for a healthy society to be. Through sports experiences, we can learn how to communicate better with each other and believe in ourselves and our teammates potential. I strongly believe that conveying the power of sports is one of my missions as a paralympic athlete.
The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games will begin soon. I hope many of you will take this opportunity to learn about the amazing stories of each athlete through the paralympic sports. In particular, paralympic swimming has athletes with various types of disabilities can participate, so an athlete with physical disabilities and the athlete with physically and intellectual disabilities can participate together. The stories of each athlete, and how they overcome their own difficulties, are each unique and quite diverse. For example, if you are visually impaired, it is not easy to go to the swimming pool in the first place. Even when you start taking swimming lessons, you cannot see your own swimming form to practice. There are many difficulties to overcome before even getting to the competition line. Furthermore, even if two athletes have the same level of disability, if one was born without and the other lost his/her eyesight due to an illness, their progress faces with completely different challenges. The stories for each athlete’s progress cannot be measured by just by the recorded time speed.
I believe that the true appeal of the paralympic games is to present how each athlete has faced life’s challenges with their best effort. The paralympic sports have different gold medals to suit each person’s abilities and characteristics. I think this is also true for every one of us, and you can’t compare each other’s abilities based on their school ranking or other abilities. I want many people to realize this fundamental truth by paralympic games and hope to improve the quality of life.
After the Tokyo Paralympics, I traveled to Spain, which is strong in the paralympic sports world, to observe the training of their local paralympic swimming team. What impressed me most was not the special training methods, but the sight of so many children with disabilities enjoying daily sports at the regular facilities. Enjoying sports is a right that should be provided to everyone. Knowing the joy of devoting yourself to your dream is one of the essential experiences to live a richer life. I would like to create a society where everyone, whether they have a disability or not, can enjoy sports. I hope to build a truly inclusive society where all kinds of people can maximize their abilities in their own way.
As the chairperson of the YMCA International Charity Run, I will walk with all of you. I would like to thank all of you for your support.
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