The 2004 JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship will be the most global and competitive in history. The best corporate runners from six countries on five continents will compete on Saturday, October 2 on New York's famous Park Avenue. This is one of a series of features about teams training for the Championship. You'll want to visit all the stops on the Road to the Championship to read about the participants who have found the perfect blend of workplace productivity and race course swiftness.

11th STOP: LONG ISLAND

Members of the Sayville Public Schools Championship-qualifying Female team unwrap Tiffany awards. From left are: Christine Richter, Diana Heidenreich, Rosemary Camilleri, Jennifer Morgo and Suzanne Hoss.

Big improvement lands public
school team in Championship
Brookhaven: Masters of competition (below)

On a tough night for racing, a fan gets a picture with event spokesperson Herman Edwards, New York Jets coach.

Long Island, NY (Sept. 20, 2004) – It is one of those nice-to-hear David and Goliath stories.

Sayville Public Schools is a small school district tucked away on the south shore of Long Island 's Suffolk County. The town of Sayville itself is situated at the gateway to the Fire Island National Sea Shore. Its 3,500 kindergarten to 12 th grade students are served by a district that employs some 550 employees.

Out of those 550 employees has come a team that surprised itself by qualifying for October's JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship on New York 's Park Avenue. Jennifer Morgo (24:01), Diana Heidenreich (26:15), Christine Richter (26:47), and Suzanne Hoss (27:53) qualified as the third-place finisher in Long Island 's Female Division.

“We didn't think we'd finish as high as third and qualify for the Championship at all!” said Rosemary Camilleri, Human Resources Director for the schools, who serves as the team's company captain. “I mean, we knew we have some great runners, however, with 8,500 people running, you would not think that you would finish third. Last year, our Mixed team finished 11th, so I was shooting for one of our teams finishing in the top ten.”

In fact, Sayville 's top Female team in 2003 finished a distant 66th. So this year, it improved 63 spots to climb all the way into the ranks of the Championship qualifiers at Long Island.

And, it did it in challenging conditions, as a torrential rain and a driving wind hammered the Jones Beach course on the July 27th race night.

“We had 30 staff members sign up,” said Camilleri. “We had representation from teachers, paraprofessionals, secretaries, security, and administration. However, with the weather being so bad, we fielded only five teams.”

Runners finish in wet, windy conditions at Jones Beach.

With a total time of 1:44:56, Sayville is hardly likely to challenge six-time defending Female team titlist Royal Mail Letters of London at the Championship. Sayville would need to improve by more than 22 minutes to do that. However, that's not really the point. In this case, success is measured by the opportunity to participate, and the very real result of already having achieved something they thought was beyond their grasp.

It is also a valued recognition for an active, competitive lifestyle practiced by the team members.

“These four women happen to be awesome runners,” said Camilleri. “Three of the four are regulars throughout the Long Island race circuit. They are all in their thirties and are terrific athletes and competitors.”

Ironically, Camilleri, who helped put the team together and finished fifth in July, also will have a chance to compete at New York.

“Though I was the fifth place female runner for Sayville, I will be running in the Championship,” she said. “One of our runners cannot make it, so I'm taking her place. We are all thrilled to be running on Park Avenue.”

As the schools' human resources director, Camilleri is in a unique position to realize the importance the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge plays inside and outside of the school workplace.

Boston | Buffalo | Chicago | Dallas | Frankfurt | Johannesburg | London | Long Island | New Jersey | New York City | Rochester | San Francisco | Singapore | Sydney | Syracuse

“It is important because it develops camaraderie and friendly competition among the staff,” she said. “I actively solicited representatives from each bargaining unit. This is a race where we all come together for a common cause, on equal ground, and have a great time together.”

But, says Camilleri, the significance extends beyond the workplace.

“I think all of the staff who participated in the Challenge are role models for students and for other staff members,” she said.

In addition to Sayville, Championship qualifiers at Long Island included the three division-winning teams.

In the Female Division, Electric Boat finished in 1:38:40 behind Kelly Bergkessel, Michele Lea, Harshita Patel and Megan Fitzgerald.

Electric Boat also prevailed in the Male Division, running 1:21:19 thanks to Dave Hurtado, Bobby Clark, Carl Roth, and Greg Silvaggio.

In the Mixed Division, Pfizer, Inc., won by more than two minutes with Chris Kane, Richard England, Mary Bibeau, and Grace Jensen comprising the team.

They're masters of competition

Long Island, NY (September 23, 2004) – Members of Brookhaven National Laboratory respectfully have a suggestion – they'd very much like to see a Master's (40 and over) Division added to the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. With Baby Boomers contributing to an aging workforce in America, it might help encourage fitness among older employees. And, Brookhaven would receive some well-deserved recognition.

At this year's Long Island JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, Brookhaven qualified for the Oct. 2 Championship in New York by finishing second in the Male Division. Terry Sullivan, Dave Phillips, Peter Pohlot and Brian Boyer combined to run 1:24:23, a little over two minutes behind division champion Electric Boat.

The effort caps a long string of successes by a team formed in the ‘70s and fueled by, you guessed it, master's runners.

“The majority of our runners are masters,” said Pohlot, who has compiled the average age of Brookhaven's top male teams over the past six years (see chart).

Brookhaven first began competing in the Series in 1987. It has finished as high as seventh (Mixed team in 1997) at the Championship and competed in the 2002 Championship.

Continuing to run well into their 40s

“We were the first Masters team,” said Pohlot. “Unfortunately, that's not how the score is kept, but we finished proudly in the middle of the pack.

“Our better runners are well into their 40s and were highly accomplished runners in their primes. However, those were previous lives. Each of us is proud of our current accomplishments, as we are of our past glories.”

For them, as well as other Brookhaven employees, the Long Island JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge provides special motivation.

“For the core runners, we want to see how far we can push the age boundary,” said Pohlot. “For the walkers and joggers, it's the combination of exercise, camaraderie, and the party that (company captain) Jim Marron puts together.”

Indeed, the race is a culmination of a series of events at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility doing world-class research in high energy physics, chemistry, nano-science technology, and biology. Brookhaven is located in Upton, N.Y., a former military camp in World War I and II whose most famous recruit was Irving Berlin. Evidently not a fan of early mornings, Berlin wrote the Bugler's Song (“I Hate To Get Up in the Morning”) at Upton.

"March in May" starts road to Series participation

These days, Brookhaven takes advantages of its setting to get employees working toward participating in the annual Long Island Corporate Challenge.

“It is a goal to get people to shoot for,” said Pohlot. “We start in May with a ‘March in May' to get people interested in getting outdoors and exercising. The ‘March in May' program tries to get people to increase their walking or running through the month. With this base, we try to keep them going with the goal of participating in the Corporate Challenge, which provides good publicity at Brookhaven and makes the entire staff aware of running.”

This year, 64 employees participated, despite rainy, windy conditions. Pohlot and his teammates already are looking ahead to the 2005 race.

“The strangest thing that has happened to us in the Series is finishing in the top five for the past six years, considering our ages,” he said with a laugh.

Seven in a row would be even nicer.