Of the 16 locations in the 2025 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, Hong Kong is the youngest. But it is wasting no time in making a name for itself.

The second edition of the 3.5-mile (5.6km) J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Hong Kong, starting and finishing in the West Kowloon Cultural District, registered a crowd of over 4,600 participants from more than 210 companies.

To put that attendance into the proper perspective, Hong Kong had significantly more Corporate Challenge entrants in its second year than did several Corporate Challenge titans that now draw crowds well over 10,000 or more, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Frankfurt, and Sydney.

“It is quite gratifying that Hong Kong has made a real impact on the Corporate Challenge Series in just two years,” said Kam Shing Kwang, J.P. Morgan’s Hong Kong CEO. “We’re particularly thrilled that over 90% of the companies who competed tonight have a business relationship with us, but we’re delighted with every company that came out, and we look forward to making the Corporate Challenge a must-attend event for every company in the Hong Kong business community.”

“Hong Kong is an amazing city and backdrop for J.P. Morgan’s flagship Corporate Challenge,” said Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, who saw off all participants from the start line. “I’m pleased that so many companies have been able to join us and I’m very confident many more will join in the years to come.”

Erdoes has long been an enthusiastic supporter of the Corporate Challenge Series, participating in many around the world. She speaks from experience when she says she “looks forward to Hong Kong becoming one of the biggest and best Corporate Challenges on the calendar. I hope to return for another one in the not too distant future.”

J.P. Morgan, which owns and operates the event, took its responsibility as the host quite seriously. Beyond successfully wooing a huge number of business partners to the starting line, Hong Kong’s 1,188 J.P. Morgan registered entrants represented the fifth largest number of firm employees from any Corporate Challenge location held thus far in 2025. New York City (2,002), London (1,998), Chicago (1,650), Singapore (1,623), Hong Kong (1,162), and San Francisco (1,062) are the only locations to date to draw 1,000 J.P. Morgan employees or more.

J.P. Morgan was the largest company in terms of participants on the West Kowloon Cultural District race course followed by Goldman Sachs (130), Jane Street (117), Citadel and Citadel Securities (102), SMBC (82), BlackRock (80), HBSC (76), Qube Research and Technologies (54), Citic Securities (50), and OKG Technology Holdings (50).

Jane Street not only had quantity of entrants, but top quality also.

Connor Hobbs and Tommy Connolly, representing Jane Street, were first and second in the male division, with respective times of 18:44 and 18:53. Joint Dynamics Elite employees matched that feat in the female division with Joanna Mockford breaking the tape first in 21:42 followed by Nicole Inge in 22:35.

Per custom at every Corporate Challenge event, owner and operator J.P. Morgan was proud to donate to a not-for-profit organization in celebration of all participants. In Hong Kong’s case it was Mind HK, a mental health charity committed to ensuring that no one in Hong Kong faces a mental health problem alone. Its mission is to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and provide accessible care through evidence-based approaches, including promotion, prevention, and early intervention.

All participants enjoyed benefits from two sponsors. Lululemon provided trainers for a pre-race warm-up, cheer zones on the race course, in-store discounts, and awarded the winners with a voucher for in-store shopping. Watsons Water, one of the largest manufacturers of pure distilled water in the world, was a returning sponsor, provided all pre- and post-race water, and supported local green initiatives by offering water refill stations.

There are only two locations remaining in the 2025 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series – Buenos Aires (November 13) and Shanghai (November 20). Overall, the Series is on track to register more than 234,000 participants this year, an estimated increase of 3% over the 226,695 attracted in 2024.