Thousands of runners ran or walked on downtown Rochester streets Thursday night for the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge. That is a 3.5 mile road race that focuses on having various local companies and organizations field teams.
JP Morgan spokesman Justin Page said that this was the second Corporate Challenge held downtown after the COVID-19 pandemic limited the event to virtual competition in 2020 and 2021.
And while the participation may not yet be back to pre-pandemic levels, Page said organizers are pleased with the increase they are seeing for this year.
“We’re working our way back, we have just under 4,000 runners and 194 companies represented this year; it’s about a 33% increase from last year’s numbers which we are really excited about, heading in the right direction,” said Page.
The event moved to the downtown area, focusing in a section of the area near Innovative Field, some years ago, and Page said organizers like the energy participants get from that course.
“We love the course. I think it’s really unique to be right there, downtown right in the heart of everything and to start right by Innovative Field. It’s a great venue for the race for the post-race hospitality and of course the fireworks at the end of the night,” said Page.
The event is also a fundraiser for the Rochester Area Community Foundation.
Individual winners on Thursday night included Lee Sortore, representing Progressive Machine & Design, with a time of 17:11 in the men's division and Trisha Byler, representing International Flavor and Fragrances, with a time of 19:44 in the women's division.
Among the companies that had the largest participation Thursday night were Paychex (217 entrants), L3Harris (161 participants), and the University of Rochester (115 participants).
