NYCHA Runners Team Up for Corporate Challenge Race 

Running strong for nearly 30 years, NYCHA’s Running Club took on yet another J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge race in Central Park on June 2.  

Eleven of the club’s members gathered to represent NYCHA this year in the Corporate Challenge, an annual 3.5-mile road race that takes place in 15 locations across the world and aims to “serve as a catalyst between work and wellness.”  

Connecting corporate participants with their colleagues to celebrate teamwork and camaraderie, the event offers teams the opportunity to get together outside of work and enjoy the benefits of fitness and friendly competition. Runners and walkers, from large organizations to startups, are invited to enter the challenge.  

NYCHA Running Club President Ramon Lugo has run the New York City race for seven years and enjoyed teaming up with his fellow NYCHA employees, some of whom he had not previously met, to share their passion for running. While club members enter more competitive races, including the New York City Marathon, the Corporate Challenge gives participants a chance to keep up their fitness in a more social setting, he noted.  

“Being together away from the office allows us to be more informal and talk about personal things more than we do at the office,” said Mr. Lugo, a Certified LAN Administrator who has also completed 12 marathons. “The event went really well; we accomplished our goal and had a good time.”    

Club member Kirsten Jardine, who took part in her first Corporate Challenge and noted the “huge participation” by the competing organizations, was pleased to experience the sense of companionship among the fellow NYCHA runners.   

“I wished they did these events more than once a year,” said Ms. Jardine, a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Chief Information Officer who has also run three New York Marathons. “It was nice to have the camaraderie of colleagues from other departments whom I hadn’t met before, and it was a great day.”