This year's Senshu International City Marathon runner was Tom Bowring, a firefighter and paramedic with the City of Berkeley Fire Department. Originally from Australia, Tom has been with the fire department two years. He and his wife, Nazarena Sadati, have a great love of travel and really appreciated this opportunity to visit Sakai. Their stay in Sakai was for 7 days, from February 16 to February 22, 2018. They had a 3 night home stay with Yaeko & Tomoshige Hirota, who have been great supporters of our sister city friendship and have hosted many of our marathon runners and goodwill visitors. The invited runner was given a tour of the marathon course on Saturday and attended a Welcome Reception in the evening. The marathon took place on Sunday, February 18. The visit included a Courtesy Visit to Mayor Takeyama, a visit to a local elementary school, and sightseeing in Sakai with a host family. Airfare to and from Japan and expenses while in Sakai were provided by the Sakai City marathon committee.
