With Alcatraz in the background, runners race in Crissy Field.

San Francisco participation surges;
team races are tightly contested
Official results | The race in photos

Nearly 3,500 runners fill up the course.

San Francisco (Sept. 14, 2004) - It was an impressive sight in an impressive setting. Bathed in late afternoon sun in the picture postcard beauty of San Francisco 's Crissy Field, a sea of multi-colored runners stretched as far as the eye could see.

The sight reflected the theme of this year's San Francisco JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge - growth. In its 20th year, the race enjoyed the largest percentage of growth of any event in the Series, an eye-opening 65 percent increase. Some 3,478 participants from 187 companies participated.

Fueling the growth were companies like Genentech, Inc., Google and the Gap, which won the award for largest participation with 163 team members.

Genentech, a bio-tech company whose slogan is "In Business for Life," certainly made things lively when some 118 employees showed up at the team tent. Last year, Genentech had five runners. Speaking of increased percentage of participation - that's an increase of more than 22 times.

"Management has been very supportive and that helped us get more runners," said Cindy Wu, the team's company captain. "Then Grete Waitz visited us in mid-March and she really fired us up. There were about 50 people who attended the meeting, but they spread the word to other people who spread it more people. Grete's visit really helped and we want to thank her again for it."

Google, which has become a widely recognized corporate name as it has evolved into the Internet's dominant search engine, had 63 members gather at its tent and sign. That was 63 more than last year.

"There's a lot of awareness this year about the race in the Bay Area," said Shaluinn Fullove of Google. "This is our first year here and we had a really good turnout."

Fullove also had a great race. In her first Corporate Challenge, the former Stanford runner won the Female title by more than a minute in 20:26.

"The weather was good. The course was beautiful. I had a great time," said Fullove. "I ran with a big pack of guys for a while, then tried to be strong at the end."

While Fullove was winning in her first try for Google, a familiar name was capturing the Male title, but not without a struggle.

"I feel great," said Dave Cullum of Merrill Lynch after winning his fourth consecutive title with a quick time of 16:59. "This was definitely well-earned. It was the toughest, closest race I've ever run here. The strategy played out a lot differently (than in past years). I knew the guys and it felt like a regular road race for me with guys I was familiar with."

One of those competitors was Chris Lundstrom of Sports Basement. He and Cullum took out the race hard and stayed together most of the way.

"We actually had a chat a little bit the first mile. Kind of looked around. We knew each other, gave a little smile, then we just kind of had to feel each other out," said Cullum. "And it came down to less than the last quarter of a mile."

Lundstrom finished in 17:01, a time that would have beaten Cullum by six seconds in 2003. Too bad for him Cullum was faster this year, finding an extra gear in the push to the finish.

Now comes another tough race. Merrill Lynch has dominated the Male division in recent years at San Francisco, but a shift in personnel took some of their best runners off the team. So, they entered Cullum's winning time as part of a Mixed team. The only problem, so did Google, which, of course had the fastest Female time with Fullove.

Male MSE winner John Raguin (13) closely follows Scott Owens.

"I don't know how it's going to come out at this point," said Cullum. "They have the female champion, we have the male champion, so it's going to come down to the come down to the rest of the team, which is kind of a good way to look at it. We're going to rely on the whole team to get us to New York."

And that's a trip that Cullum, who has won the individual title at the Championship, would love to make.

"I have a lot of experience," said Cullum. "Fortunately, I've done enough Corporate Challenges to understand how it works. I know my competitors. If I'm in great shape I think it's going to come down to another great finish."

Be sure to check back for information on San Francisco 's team champions, who will be the last teams to qualify for the Championship, October 2 on Park Avenue in New York. Also, keep up with stories about teams coming to New York from five continents in "The Road to the Championship" on www.jpmorganchasecc.com.

Other San Francisco champions included Male Most Senior Executive winner John Raguin of Guidewire Software, who defended his title in 20:04, the fifth fastest time of the season. Tracy Dziedzic of ABN Amro Bank won the Female Most Senior Executive title in 27:45.

The other big winner was the Trails Forever Program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The program expands and maintains the impressive collection of trails, trailheads, overlooks, beaches, and exhibits that are part of the Golden Gate National Parks.

San Francisco concludes the 28th regular season of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. The Championship on October 2 is the next race.