The J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge is in the second year of an exciting Downtown makeover, and captains can begin establishing their teams and registering their colleagues.
The 28th running of the popular team 3.5-mile road race will be held on Tuesday, May 22, with a 7 p.m. race start. It had a successful move Downtown in 2017 with well-received post-race hospitality within Frontier Field. Because of that, a capacity crowd of 10,000 entrants is expected this year.
To accommodate the increased crowd size, the race course has also been updated. The starting line will now be on Plymouth Avenue and the 3.5-mile distance will include stretches on Main Street. The finish line will remain on Morrie Silver Way with all post-race activity within adjoining Frontier Field, with creative hospitality in the stands, club boxes, and throughout the ballpark.
It adds up to an attractive night out for the business community, as evidenced by feedback from experienced team captains.
Brian Quinn, the Wellness Coordinator at soft contact lens manufacturer CooperVision, has served as team captain for five years, registering 84 colleagues in 2017. He found the hospitality at Frontier Field to be quite an assist to his efforts.
“We used to have to find a food vendor and bring other food and beverage with us, but now that it is at Frontier Field that is all taken care of for me – and it is a huge help,” Quinn said. “The venue, the bib pick-up and the food and beverage could not have been easier. If anyone is on the fence about becoming a Team Captain, I hope they will decide to do it as it is so much easier than ever before. The little time that it does take pays off with everyone’s accomplished faces when they return from the race.”
During the registration period, Quinn finds consistent communication to be a key in spreading the word throughout the workforce.
“We do four rounds of emails to encourage people to register,” Quinn said. “We do them one week apart from each other right up until the deadline. We also have our Team Coordinators at our Manufacturing and Distribution sites talk about it at weekly team meetings to get the face-to-face communication out about it.”
Diana Solt, a Package Engineer and Campus Brand Manager for Harris Solutions, captained a team of 141 last year, the fifth largest company in the event (Wegmans led, with 830). Solt indicated that the Corporate Challenge has become part of the recreational fabric at Harris, a proven leader in tactical communications, electronic warfare, avionics, air traffic management, space and intelligence, and weather solutions.
“We use multiple approaches at Harris to reach our employees, including our weekly employee newsletter and email distributions,” Solt said. “We also place posters in high-traffic areas as well as signage on digital screens located in our lobbies. We find loyalty runs deep at Harris and see runners returning year after year once they’ve attended their first Challenge.
“Harris runners turn out in force to support the mission of the Corporate Challenge and have a great time doing it,” Solt continued. “No other team-building event at Harris joins as many employees across buildings, across town, and across company segments so successfully. It’s an honor to be the Captain on behalf of Harris, to showcase our commitment to the community and to our employees.”
Registration will remain open until Thursday, May 3, or until capacity is reached, whichever comes first. Hospitality offerings will be available for review and reservation by team captains beginning on Tuesday, March 13.
Please contact Rochester@jpmorganchasecc.com or (585) 295-8551.
