Thursday, October 24th, marked the third annual Shanghai J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge held by the windy Huangpu River. With a record number of 7,274 entrants this year, Austen Morris Associates’ Kelly Olver placed an impressive second place, only 30 seconds behind the winner of the women’s division.
This is the second year that Austen Morris Associates have competed in this event. Austen Morris Associates Team included Client Services Manager Kelly Olver, Business Development Business development consultant Jonas Andren, Head of Recruitment Anu Aggarwal, Client Service Manager Quentin Debonnet, Marketing Department leaders Margo Friedman, Eva Poon, Katie Littlefield and Connie Li as Team Captains. This Corporate Challenge benefitted Right To Play China, which helps more than one million children around the world take part in regular sport and play activities weekly. In total, seven participates from Austen Morris Associates participated in this 5.6km/3.5-mile race.
Shao, the host of the evening, checked out of his J.P. Morgan office to accommodate the 4:30 p.m. starting gun, the earliest flag-off in the Corporate Challenge Series. He beamed with pride while walking through an expanded hospitality village, necessitated by the rapidly-growing size of this event.
“The companies here tonight from large corporations to small start-ups joined in the Shanghai race, some are our clients, some are our service providers, and some are even our competitors,” he smiled. “We are proud to welcome all of them.”
J.P. Morgan first extended this unique opportunity for company bonding and wellness to Shanghai in 2011, registering 3,919 entrants for the 5.6km/3.5-mile race. That swelled significantly to 6,210 last October. The additional increase this year to more than 7,200 necessitated a new starting line and the use of the green space normally reserved for the popular West Bund Music Festival.
