Philips Respironics showed up in force to support the Pittsburgh Marathon and Half Marathon in order to demonstrate the importance of sleep and breathing to the event’s spectators.

More than 130 Philips Respironics employees volunteered for the event, and more than 150 company representatives competed in the event, which drew more than 10,000 participants.

“One of the key missions of Philips is health and well being … What better way to improve your cadio vascular conditioning [than running]?” Philips Respironics CEO Donald Spence told Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA.”So we thought we would help Dick’s Sporting Goods and the other sponsors bring this great marathon and half marathon back. I think the half marathon brought a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to go for a full marathon.”

A video of the interview with Spence can be viewed at http://kdka.com/video/?id=56964@kdka.dayport.com.