It's the greatest David Fox, head of the Chicago Office & Investment Banking for JPMorgan Chase, gets Grete Waitz, sponsors and most of the more than 12,500 in the field to smile when he reminds them that Chicago is the greatest sports town around. Photos: Tom Coat

Flight attendant's win highlights race
in which General Electric also impresses
Official results are posted | The race in photos

Longtime General Electric captain Mark McKenzie (8354) put together a championship-caliber team that included men's individual winner Joe Herington (8322) in Chicago.

CHICAGO, August 7, 2003 – The JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge® – with more than 200,000 participants worldwide – has its fair share of participants who are quite familiar with business travel. But the itinerary noted below would tire even the most hardened globetrotter.

Anette Ronnerman is a first-class flight attendant for American Airlines. She is also an exceptional runner, having won the Dallas version of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge this past April 8. Chicago is her home base, and she very much wanted to compete in the 22nd annual Corporate Challenge in Grant Park, with the finish lines steps away from the magnificent Buckingham Fountain.

“But there was one problem,” said Pam Schroeder, Manager of Employee Relations for American Airlines. “Anette was scheduled to work on the 9:55 p.m. flight to London’s Heathrow Airport.”

No problem, thought Ronnerman. She’d just need to run faster.

So the 35-year-old Ronnerman covered the 3.5-mile course in 20:33, crossing the finish line on Columbus Avenue exactly one hour and five minutes before she was required to be at O’Hare Airport to prep for her flight.

“She had a good parking spot and took off right after breaking the tape,” said Schroeder, well aware that that fact alone in Chicago is an accomplishment. “Anette is a great flight attendant, one of our best, and we are so proud of her running. It was great that she was able to do both.”

Ronnerman’s time was five seconds faster than her spring triumph in Texas. She bested Janeth Salazar of Ace Hardware by 29 seconds and defending 2002 champion Tricia Marks of Madison Capital by 75. Obviously, we were unable to catch up with Ronnerman for comment after this event but we’ll have a chance at the October 4 JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship in New York. American’s mixed team – led by Ronnerman – won a qualifying berth in Dallas.

Winning a trip to the Big Apple was also foremost in the mind of General Electric on a warm, windy night by Lake Michigan. One of the most prolific, successful teams in the 27-year history of the Corporate Challenge loaded up its roster with top runners from Milwaukee and Upstate New York in an effort to win the men’s title and an automatic berth in the Championship.

David Fox, COO Jay Taylor and Grete Waitz join members of JPMorgan Chase for a team photo.

Joe Herington – a first-time Corporate Challenge participant – earned the individual men’s title with a winning time of 17:58. He bested last year’s champ, Bob Cisler of Castrol, by 35 seconds (18:33). GE teammate Tim Donahugh was third in 18:43. GE also had the seventh place runner overall as long-time team captain Mark McKenzie – from suburban Albany, NY – finished under 20 minutes.

“I saw Mark at a corporate track meet in California a few weeks ago,” said Herington. “He’s a great guy. He didn’t give me a pep talk but he knew what to expect from me tonight. He was counting on me to do well. We all want that trip to New York.”

Herington was a collegiate track and cross country runner at Marquette University. The 24-year-old joined GE less than a year ago and quickly learned about the company’s long involvement in the Corporate Challenge.

General Electric gears up to try to qualify for New York

With the Chicago skyline behind them, runners compete on a beautiful Grant Park course.

“They told me about the trips to New York. I’ve never been, so I jumped at the chance to enter this,” said Herington. “And GE definitely supports our running. We find ourselves striving to be the best we can in everything we do.”

Ronnerman and Herington were the best from the field of more than 12,500 runners from over 400 companies. Other notable achievers were Most Senior Executive winners Michael Barrett of Chapman & Cutler (21:27) and Linda Bracken (32:54) of You Just Trade.

For Barrett, the victory added to his Hall of Fame-caliber Corporate Challenge credentials. It was the 12th Most Senior Executive crown for the 53-year-old. He’s getting better with age, having shaved 13 seconds off his winning 2002 time. For Bracken, it was her first JPMorgan Chase effort.

Winning a thrill for Female Most Senior Executive champion

“What a thrill,” said Bracken, the owner and founder of You Just Trade, a niche technology firm that consults for financial institutions. “Chicago is fantastic with events like this and I’ve known about this event for years. We’re a couple of years old and a lot of our employees that were here ran for other companies in the past. To win this award in front of all our people is great.”

Ken Hoffman, CEO of venerable men’s clothier HartMarx, wasn’t a Most Senior Executive winner, but he showed championship dedication in getting to the event.

“I was at a meeting in New York this morning and scheduled an earlier flight so I could get back for this event,” said Hoffman. “My company captain, Jim Henneberry, wouldn’t have forgiven me if I missed it.

“Seriously, this is a tremendous event for HartMarx because it’s great for company morale and it keeps our most valuable asset – our people – healthy and feeling good about themselves.”

For second straight year, YMCA is race beneficiary

For the second straight year, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago received a donation from JPMorgan Chase in connection with the Corporate Challenge. Steve Cole, the CEO of the YMCA, accepted the donation.

“This goes directly to scholarship programming for inner-city youth and our YMCAs and our resident camps and day camps,” said Cole. “Children that normally can’t afford resident camps or day camps will be able to thanks to everybody’s participation in this event.”

“The YMCA is so much more than a swim and gym organization,” said David Fox the host of the evening from JPMorgan Chase. “The Y is actually the largest child care provider in the country and they give so much back to the civic and community side in Chicago. That’s why we are proud to choose them as the beneficiary.”

The 27th season of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge is nearing its end. One event remains before the Championship – Wednesday, September 17 at Crissy Field in San Francisco. Please check back regularly on www.jpmorganchasecc.com in the coming weeks for the fastest times of the Series year and also up-to-date information on qualification for the Championship. Our 2004 Series schedule, for those looking to get a head start on training, will be released in early-January.