BR teams up with JP Morgan in ninth corporate challenge
THE COMPETITIVE spirit among Gauteng’s corporates will be on full display when close to 13 000 employees take part in South Africa’s ninth annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge on Thursday next week.
The event, which takes place in the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg, will see runners and walkers from close to 300 company teams join in the spectacle, whose history dates back to 1977.
Jpmorgan Chase, the global financial services powerhouse, founded the 5.6km challenge in its home city of New York. The event has grown steadily ever since, and now takes places in seven countries on five continents. The organisers have plans to expand it even further, thanks to its strong popularity.
“The growth of the corporate challenge is testimony to Jpmorgan Chase’s continuing support of health and fitness, teamwork and camaraderie in the corporate communities across the US and abroad,” says Barbara Paddock, the bank’s senior vice-president.
Besides giving thousands of employees an opportunity to participate in an evening of healthy competition, the race has become a useful avenue for giving back to society as well. Each year the Jpmorgan Chase Foundation makes a donation on behalf of the race to a non-profit organisation.
This year’s beneficiary is the Make A Difference (MAD) foundation, started in 2003 by former Springbok rugby World Cup winning captain Francois Pienaar and friends. MAD provides educational and related opportunities to academically talented, but financially disadvantaged youngsters in South Africa.
“We are fortunate to live in a country like South Africa. It’s a country with huge potential but also daunting challenges,” Pienaar says.
“We all need to invest in the future of South Africa – the leaders of tomorrow need our leadership today.”
In terms of size Absa is leading the pack in this year’s event, with 657 full-time employees taking part.
Other impressively sized teams include Standard Bank with 521 participants. KPMG boasts 450, Vodacom has 433 en- trants, Liberty Life will have 374 in the race and Deloitte 373.
Business Report (BR) is the official print media partner for the 2012 JP Morgan Corporate Challenge.
“Being selected as an official media partner is a great fit for us as many of our readers come from the very same companies and organisations that will be entering thousands of participants in this year’s race,” said Business Report editor Ellis Mnyandu.