It is that time of year, when all of the desk jockeys in NYC come out to Central Park and try to prove that they are good at more than just the sport of holding down office chairs. Yes, I’m talking about the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. I will be participating in the debauchery this evening, for the 3.5 mi. road race. It is kind of a weird distance. I’m not sure why they don’t just do a normal 5k. My guess is that it is some sort of subtle political statement like “Hey! Our capitalism is the best in the world, and our measurement system is better than that crap you use too!” I could be wrong though. Anyway, my race packet didn’t come with any safety pins, so I guess I’m going to use scotch tape to affix my number. This should be good.
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2 responses to “Corporate Challenge”
Maybe the Central Park trail is 3.5 miles. Good Luck!
While the capitalist theory is clever and made me smile, here is the reality: On July 13, 1977, for our very first Corporate Challenge, there was on-going construction in the northern blocks of Central Park. We were limited to a 1.75 mile loop, close to where the race starts now. We simply did it twice, and the next year intended to go to a traditional 5K. But the late, great Fred Lebow talked us out of it. He predicted, correctly, that the unique distance would give us an advantageous point-of-difference.
Thanks for blogging about us, and I hope you had a great race last night!
Alan T.