|
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. |
12th STOP: NEW JERSEY
Members of the GlaxoSmithKline Female team receive their third-place Championship awards in 2003 from JPMorgan Chase's David Nolan (left), Cathy Eltringham - Manager, Events and Recognition - Tiffany & Co. (second from right) and Grete Waitz (right). Members are (from left): Jami Krouse, Susan Copleman, Shirley Geerling, and Carrie McAdam.
Core of competitive runners lifts
GlaxoSmithKline to contending spot
The 2004 version of the team includes, from left: Carrie McAdam, Susan Copleman, Shirley Geerling, Stephanie Karsay, and Kathleen Heupler (alternate). |
Morristown, NJ (Sept. 22, 2004) – GlaxoSmithKline's Female team has come a long way in two years. That's a credit to the talent of its runners, the vision of its company captain, and the power of the internet.
“Before the 2003 race in New Jersey, I happened to find the JPMorgan race web site,” said Company Captain Ted Trocky of Philadelphia-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). “After looking at the Morristown results, I knew we had a women's team that could compete and get to New York (for the Championship).
“At that point, I started to work on forming a GSK team to take the hour and a half drive up the New Jersey turnpike. Once the team ran in Morristown, they were hooked and excited to represent GSK in the Championship.”
They represented their company well.
Running in their first JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship, GSK finished third overall, behind only six-time winner Royal Mail Letters of London and powerful Bundesgrenzschutz of Frankfurt. GSK was easily the class of the American teams on Park Avenue in 2003, finishing almost a minute and a half ahead of their closest U.S. rival.
Now, they are back for more. At Morristown this year, GSK put two female team members - Susan Copleman (22:03) and Shirley Geerling (22:11) - among the top four overall women finishers. With Stephanie Karsay (22:46) and Carrie McAdam (23:50) following close behind, GSK crushed the competition by an almost unheard of 24 minutes.
IBM's Kerry Collins edges Lucent's Doug Clark for Male title. IBM also edged Lucent for Male team title. |
The year before, their margin of victory was less than four minutes over 2002 champion Pfizer. So, what happened? Did they scare away the competition?
“I guess we did,” said Trocky, with a laugh that suggested he didn't really believe that's what happened. “I didn't realize the margin was that big. Our focus was to get to New York and improve on last year's third-place finish.”
They seem poised to make a serious run at doing just that. Once again, GSK comes into the Championship ranked high, this time the fourth fastest team in 2004. Among Championship qualifying teams, their combined time of 1:30:50 trails only Royal Mail Letters of London (1:22:05) and Frankfurt 's Polizei Hessen (1:25:49).
For a team ranked this highly, GSK surprisingly won't have any contenders for individual honors at the Championship. Instead, GSK relies on teamwork.
“It is corporate races like the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge that promote a team spirit, and that is exactly what we have accomplished with the GSK team,” said Trocky. “We do not have any exceptionally fast runners but we have a core group of very competitive women.”
Those women come from diverse area of GSK, a global pharmaceutical company.
“We have Shirley (Geerling), who is in senior management and at 45 years old is our most senior competitor,” said Trocky. “Susan (Copleman) is in R&D and has her Ph.D. Carrie (McAdam) works with external customers, and Stephanie (Karsay) is in marketing of GSK products. Because of location, work and home life, they all basically train on their own, but they come together as one team for the Championship.”
After last year's victory at New Jersey and strong third-place finish on Park Avenue, the team was recognized with an article about each runner on the company's web site.
“The support was extremely positive,” said Trocky.
This year, more recognition may be in the works.
NOTES: IBM successfully defended its Male team title at New Jersey, edging Lucent Technologies and perennial Morristown contender Verizon Wireless. Chris Collins (18:41), Mike Chow (19:53), Marty Horan (20:31), and Terry Carmody (22:20) combined to run 1:21:25.
In the Mixed Division, Merck ran 1:24:28 to post the ninth fastest Mixed team time in 2004. Mark Washington (18:46), Greg Noll (20:25), Jennifer Hart (21:32) and Kim Rosko (23:45) combined their efforts to successfully defend their 2003 New Jersey title and win by more than five minutes.
|
