A record crowd of 12,748 starts out at the 2008 Singapore JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. Leading the runners to the finish were male champion Killian Pattwell (left inset) and female winner Vivian Tang (right inset). Photos: Andrew Mok/Moomedia.

Record crowd runs fast and goes green
in fifth Singapore Corporate Challenge
Results | Photo Gallery

Applauded by festive, good luck lions, runners start out in front of Singapore's impressive skyline. Below, champions Vivian Tang and Killian Pattwell pose with their Tiffany awards and Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan (left), Minister for Community Development, Youth & Sports and Philip Lee, CEO of JPMorgan Singapore.

SINGAPORE, April 23, 2008 — A record capacity crowd at the fifth annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Singapore made smart environmental choices, ran fast times, and then celebrated in a post-race party on The Padang. This is very much an event that has carved out its own special niche in this gorgeous island nation.

With 12,748 participants from 351 companies, the Corporate Challenge has nearly doubled its numbers from its first event in 2004 and the future looks bright and green.

“This year was special,” Philip Lee, Country Head for JPMorgan Chase in Singapore, noted. “Besides the work-life balance that we strive for, we put a great emphasis on being the first truly green event in Singapore. Feedback from our colleagues indicates this was the right direction. The event has galvanized the community.”

“Teaming Up For A Greener Tomorrow” was the theme of the event, and the sold-out crowd entered almost exclusively online, took alternative transportation to the site, recycled properly, and produced some significant energy savings — at least 79 million BTUs at first estimate. That's enough energy to light the office space for one of the participants for more than 33 years *.

And the entrants came from an eclectic collection of offices — 619 from financial giant Credit Suisse to the team-minimum of four from an entrepreneurial outfit called Two B Fit. They started on the Esplanade Bridge with a breathtaking back-drop of the Singapore skyline and concluded with festivities on The Padang that included a sold-out hospitality village.

Benefiting from all the healthy team-building and camaraderie will be the new ImaginAsia program at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM). Designed to provide an educational, confidence-inspiring day for at-risk children, ACM's program will feature specially-scripted tours led by professional actors. The tours will be highly interactive and filled with elements of drama.

Dramatic would be one word to describe the effort of overall men's winner Killian Pattwell of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Pattwell, who finished second at this event in 2006, was the first overall finisher with an impressive time of 17:42. This was the second fastest men's time logged in the Corporate Challenge's five years in this Asian business hub, trailing only the 17:34 submitted by Tanka Bahadur Magar of the Singapore Police Force in 2007.

“The conditions were great for racing tonight,” said Pattwell, who bested second-place finisher Daniel Plews of the Singapore Sports Council by 27 seconds. “The Corporate Challenge has always been one of my favorite races.”

Jasmine Leong (11011) and Sie Sie Ding (11001), both of the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, stretch out in front of a recycling container, part of the Teaming Up for a Greener Tomorrow campaign that was embraced by the record number of race participants.

The unique 5.6-kilometer distance is logically also at the top of Vivian Tang's list of preferred competitions. Tang was the woman's champ in 20:17, marking the fourth time she has won taken home the Tiffany prize. She was in total command from the first stride, and ultimately topped second-place runner Kelley Toy of Fonterra by two and one-half minutes, or more than 40 seconds per mile.

“I was surprised by how things turned out,” Tang said after improving her personal best at the Corporate Challenge by a full minute ( 21:17 in both 2006 and 2007). “But I'm not surprised by how organised the event is. It is always so professional.”

Andrea Muller of Fitch Rating has experienced the quality of the world's largest road racing Series on two continents, having run her first Corporate Challenge in 1986 at New York 's Central Park. Her finishing time of 29:29 in this race produced a Tiffany award for the fastest women's Most Fittest Executive.

“This is a great run no matter where it is,” Muller said. “I've always been glad to be part of it, and now with the greening initiative it takes it to a new level.”

Muller's male counterpart in the Most Fittest Executive winners' circle, Johan Diderichsen of Viking Life-Saving Equipment, understands that environmentally-friendly practices have an appropriate place at a sporting event.

“Like in training, we may only be able to see the impact of our efforts years later,” he said. “But we have to start somewhere.” Diderichsen's miles are surely paying off now — he ran a solid 20:51 (just below a 6:00 mile pace).

There was also a historic element to the event as, for the first time, the judging for the T-shirt competition was taken online. More than 5,000 visitors to www.jpmorganchasecc.com cast votes and determined that Harry Elias and Michelin designed the most creative race night wear. SAP was selected as the third winner on-site. All three companies will receive a donation from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to designate to the charity of their choice.

The 32nd year of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Series next features a race in Chicago, on May 22. This will be first of eight Corporate Challenge events over a five-week period as the Series gets into high-gear.

* - Energy measurement provided by ERG, official environmental counsel for the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Series.