The European semi-final in the Ekiden relay race in the women's category fell prey again to TPCA runners. In Toyota's European headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, a year later, they won their spot at the World Finals, which will be held in December in Japan. The best men's team finished fourth and improved by one place with regards to last year. The runners from the other team placed ninth out of twenty-one teams.

The TPCA women’s team has still not found a match among runners in the European races and the second place British women were at the finish line more than seven-minutes later. At last year's final in Japan they placed seventh but this year their goals are even higher. "We would like to place around the fifth place. Everything depends on whether we avoid illnesses and we have enough time to prepare," Lenka Grygarová, the fastest runner told us.

Among the men the Turks held their spots and both their teams ended with medals same as last year. British Toyota also placed in the top three. If an eight-man team was assembled from all the teams, two Czech men would be in it. The fastest from the Czech expedition was Petr Kolek from the Quality Control department, who ran 2.8 km in 8 minutes 37 seconds. Just a few seconds behind was Paul Till from Welding with a time of 8 minutes 44 seconds.

The corporate Ekiden was held in June as part of the company event Family Day. The members of the best men's and women's teams who qualified for the Brussels semifinals, got to use a passenger car from TPCA for three months. The representatives also received vouchers for massages, access to a swimming pool and a fitness club. A professional trainer trained them three times a week to prepare for the race.

The Ekiden is a relay race which originated in Japan. Instead of the classic peg, the racers pass a cloth sash. TPCA has held this race for the third time this year.

Miroslav Vlasák
TPCA Press Office