Depending on what street you walk down in this historic Western New York city, or what history book you read, you will likely see Rochester described as the “Flour City” or the “Flower City,” because of the role it has played in flour production and floriculture. Often times, both.

And, over the last four decades, it’s developed another title: A prideful, thriving home of the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge.

The 32nd year of the Corporate Challenge in Rochester – a Flour/Flower City tradition dating back to 1991 – brought 4,085 entrants from 197 companies to Downtown and adjacent Innovative Field. With blue skies, comfortable breezes and temperatures in the 70’s, the participants couldn’t have had a better night to get together.

“One of my favorite ways to appreciate our beautiful city of Rochester is to see it on foot,” said Kimberly Jones, President & CEO, Butler/Till, a marketing agency. “As an avid runner, I’m excited that Butler/Till’s headquarters are Downtown and aligns perfectly for myself and fellow employee-owners to participate in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge in support of our local community. Blending work and wellness builds the perfect ecosystem for team bonding, and local involvement, plus, it's just a fun time!”

Jones and her Butler/Till colleagues – along with all entrants – surely enjoyed that this year’s 3.5-mile course was adjusted to include more time on the Downtown streets, including a generous stretch on Main Street.

The starting horn went off on Plymouth Avenue with the largest companies lined up being from L3Harris (224 entrants), Paychex (188), CooperVision (150), University of Rochester (88), St. John Fisher University (84), City of Rochester (78), Constellation Brands (64), IDEX Health & Science/Pulsafeeder (64), CNC Machining (63), and The Bonadio Group (63).

This was the first time L3Harris had the most participants in the Corporate Challenge and that was a source of great pride for the information technology services provider.

“The Corporate Challenge is an event thousands of employees across Rochester look forward to. For L3Harris, this year marks our largest registration with 224 registrants,” said Gary Fino, Team Captain for L3 Harris. “It's great to see employees participating in a healthy outdoor event then having the chance to network and celebrate. It’s always one of the best nights and best events of the year. I hope this event continues to grow and our team is even bigger next year.”

Downtown Rochester is the third site in 32 years of the Corporate Challenge. It was first conducted at Highland Park from 1991-2003,then the Rochester Institute of Technology from 2004-16. The move Downtown featured a finish line next to the main entrance of Innovative Field – the home of the Rochester Red Wings, one of the longest-tenured minor league baseball teams in the United States. The Red Wings open their gates to all participants for a ballpark style party following.

That combination of geography, competition, teamwork and camaraderie attracts all industry groups and job titles.

"We love to get out of the office and spend some time in the community,” said Lindsay McCutchen, Founder and CEO of Career Start, which offers staffing services across several industries. “It's always a great team building exercise and a lot of fun for everyone.”

McCutchen participated in the race along with her colleagues from Aboldco, the parent company of Career Start and Tallavera, which offers staffing services for the medical field.

As for the very best runners at the front of the pack in this world-class road race. That can be described in one phrase: Oh my, Trisha Byler!

Byler, representing International Flavors & Design, won the female individual title with a time of 20:06. It was her amazing SIXTH Corporate Challenge in a row. Byler is unbeaten since this event moved Downtown and no person has won more Rochester Corporate Challenge titles in the event’s history.

In the male competition, Scott Loforte, representing Popli Design Group, was first across the line with a time of 17:43. He was the Corporate Challenge runner-up last year and won the race in 2022. 

With the pristine conditions, it’s likely many of the participants hit a personal best, and all results are available on the Corporate Challenge Series Leaderboard. But even if a participants’ time was not memorable, the entire experience was. That’s why the Corporate Challenge has persisted in Rochester for 32 years and counting.

“This event stands as one of the most meaningful ways to get outside, be healthy, and gather with employees from both of our Rochester locations,” said Patrick Bark, Marketing Manager at Safran, the backbone of modern navigation systems. “The energy and excitement throughout the entire course are absolutely contagious, and we try to take as much of that excitement home with us as possible.”

All J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Rochester entrants can also take satisfaction that their efforts will have an impact beyond the finish line as JPMorgan Chase will donate in their honor to United Way of Greater Rochester. Locally in Rochester and the Finger Lakes, the United Way serves 5,144 square miles of rural, suburban, and urban neighborhoods, and brings together more than 50,000 donors, 13,000 volunteers, 800 workplaces, and hundreds of nonprofit partners to address the region’s biggest human services challenges.