Sydney gets most international year
for Series off to rousing start
Official results are posted | Sydney 2003 in photos

Penelope Sarmiento breaks tape held by Fred Hill, Executive Vice President of Marketing & Communications for JPMorgan Chase

SYDNEY , November 12, 2003 – The 28th season of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge® Series promises to be the most global, and on this night had an Olympic touch.

Youcef Abdi of Focus International Freight, a bronze medal winner in the Commonwealth Games and a good bet to make Australia 's Summer Olympic team in the 1500 meters, raced to his first JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge victory, covering the 5.6-kilometer Centennial Park course in 16:24 . About an hour after breaking the tape, Abdi accepted his Tiffany first-place award from a former Australian Olympian, tennis great Patrick Rafter.

“He (Rafter) knows what it takes to be a champion,” Abdi said of Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion and former world number one. “I'm hoping to get to Athens (for the 2004 Olympic Summer Games) and this event fit perfectly into my work and training schedule. What a great night.”

Indeed, the fourth annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Sydney had an unmistakably positive feel. Rafter was on hand to not only run, but also accept a $30,000 donation from JPMorgan on behalf of his eponymous Cherish The Children Foundation. The crowd of more than 4,800 runners from over 275 companies represented a better than 200-percent increase in participants over the past two years. A new super-sized video screen was unveiled in the staging area, allowing participants to see replays from the race, historical Corporate Challenge highlights, and other special interviews and video clips. And flags from Singapore and South Africa – the newest additions to the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Series – flew prominently.

Yes, the Series is a year older but it's not getting stale.

Corporate Challenge "unique in the entire world"

“The Corporate Challenge is unique in the entire world,” said Fred Hill, Executive Vice President for Marketing and Communications at JPMorgan Chase. “The fact is that in different markets around the world our colleagues and business partners come to us and say we want the Corporate Challenge. That speaks volumes of how powerful it is as a product. And Sydney is an absolutely perfect spot for our event. This is a wonderful, vibrant city and the Australians are probably the most fit group of people in the world.”

Abdi was the fittest of the fit, earning his first Corporate Challenge by a comfortable 49 seconds over Jeremey Horne of Prince of Wales Hospital. And Abdi was joined in the winner's circle by his boss, Focus International CEO Mark Carmody, who won the men's Most Senior Executive category in 20:40 .

JPMorgan Chase's Fred Hill presents check to Louise Rafter

“Youcef certainly provides a point of motivation in our company with his running and he's a lovely guy as well,” said Carmody. “He brings us a lot of recognition with his performance and he certainly helps me as a runner. This shows the perfect blend of work and fitness.”

Carmody, whose company specializes in freight distribution for the ladies' garment industry, is a top flight runner himself.

His 20:40 , combined with Abdi's effort and two other Focus runners below 20 minutes, just might land Focus a spot in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship next October in New York . Check back to www.jpmorganchasecc.com for complete team results in the next week.

“He is a great boss, very supportive of my running,” said Abdi. “But our running definitely helps our work too. There is a lot of stress from day-to-day, and talking about sport, our hobbies, really makes a difference. That's what I like about this event.”

The female winner on this night was Penelope Sarmiento of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The 26-year-old secretary came to the event from the other end of the running spectrum.

Female winner began distance running in February

“I just started running distances in February,” admitted Sarmiento, a former 800 meter runner in high school who did not compete collegiately. “I had a friend who ran in other races, got me motivated, and I started to do some running. I found out to my surprise that I was pretty fast, so now I train three times a week, six to nine kilometers per run. But to come out and win the Corporate Challenge, now that was a dream!”

Male winner Youcef Abdi and Male MSE champion Mark Carmody with Patrick Rafter

Dreams do come true. Sarmiento's 21:52 edged her colleague Kellie Gread by one second. With a third PWC woman, Sally Doppler, finishing in sixth overall, it appears Sarmiento is a cinch to earn a trip to New York for the Championship. How's that for a reward for taking up running?

“At about the 5K mark a woman from HSBC (Charlotte Middleton) was ahead of me and I was thinking, ‘This is great, I'm going to finish second. I'm very happy.' But then I overtook her (Middleton finished third) and I couldn't believe I was breaking the tape first.”

Sarmiento was equally thrilled just to be on the Awards stage post-race. “I got to shake Patrick Rafter's hand twice,” she enthused. “Now there is a great prize.”

Rafter's Foundation a worthy beneficiary of event

Rafter's Cherish The Children Foundation was the beneficiary for the event, with more than $6 from each runner's registration fee going to the charity. Cherish The Children was founded in 1999 with $180,000 of Rafter's prize money from the Australian Open and provides support to more than 30 charities throughout Australia . The Foundation's mission is to bring hope and care to disadvantaged children. The JPMorgan donation specifically will benefit The Shepard Centre, a facility that assists deaf or hearing impaired children. Rafter's sister Louise, Foundation Director for Cherish The Children, accepted the donation.

Patrick Rafter got the runners off, blowing the starting horn, and then jumped in with the pack. One of the runners he began with was Rob Whitfield of Westpac Banking Corporation.

“He lost me after about a half-mile,” laughed Whitfield, “After the race he came and met our entire team, signed autographs, and took pictures. He was a memorable experience.”

Durston of Public Sector Super Scheme wins female MSE title

Bev Durston of Public Sector Super Scheme earned the female Most Senior Executive title in a time of 26:25, completing the individual awards on the night. PriceWaterhouseCoopers also took home the hardware for the largest participation with 222 runners and walkers taking part.

And now it's on to Johannesburg , South Africa in March for the second event of the 2004 Series. The full schedule – please check back to this site in December for complete dates and details – will feature 18 events in 15 cities in six countries on five continents.

Youcef Abdi and Penelope Sarmiento have set the pace for all other international corporate road racers. Let the chase begin!