For immediate release

What do you get when you combine a beautiful summer night, a nice lake breeze and a prime party location across from one of Chicago’s architectural landmarks? You get a great night for a run (ok, so most of us walked but we all made it over the finish line!)!

For the fifth consecutive year, Graycor participated in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge – a 3.5-mile race/run/walk – that took take place in Chicago’s Grant Park on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 7:10 p.m. This year, the Graycor team hit an all-time record of 40 participants!

“We had a great night for the event,” said Matt Gray, president, Graycor Inc., who also participated in the run. “The weather was beautiful and we had a prime location on the corner of Columbus and Congress right across from Buckingham Fountain, which made it even more enjoyable,” he added. “As a company, this event makes sense for us because it combines fun and fitness with a great charitable cause that benefits those in our community.” 

“The event is about more than a race,” said John Shannon, manager of business development for Graycor Companies' subsidiary, Graycor Construction Company Inc., who served as team captain. “The committee that plans and executes the event goes to great lengths to ensure that the team has a lot of fun, both before and after the race,” he added. “I want to thank the committee for their hard work and also thank all those who made the commitment to participate and show support for the company.”

The event was fully sponsored by Graycor and, therefore, was free of charge to all employees. Registration fees, transportation (a bus took the team downtown for the race and returned everyone to the corporate office), refreshments, games (the team played bags this year) and team T-shirts were also provided to all participants. Although every participant received special gifts, this year’s top two runners – Adam Fauth and John Sorenson – received White Sox tickets for their accomplishments. 

All proceeds from the event were donated to local not-for-profit organizations. This year's beneficiary was the Greater Chicago Food Depository. As a company, Graycor collected and donated 10 boxes of food for the event. 

In its 34th season, the JPMorgan 2009 Corporate Challenge series features 18 events in 15 cities in six countries on five continents, making the event a true global celebration of camaraderie and fitness. The worldwide events feature more than 220,000 participants from nearly 8,000 companies.