Company pride, not egos, takes center stage at Corporate Run [The Miami Herald]

Apr. 30--They never will sprint as fast as Usain Bolt. They can't dazzle crowds like Dwyane Wade or smash a tennis ball like Serena Williams. But there was something wonderful and refreshing about the more than 18,800 athletes who finished the Mercedes-Benz Corporate Run in downtown Miami on Thursday night.

Unlike the sculpted, world-class (and often spoiled and petulant) athletes who typically grace the front of the sports page, these weren't necessarily in the best of shape. For every lean body in high-tech running gear, there were hundreds of others with pudgy midsections covered by oversized company T-shirts. Best of all, their motivation had nothing to do with money -- although the 28 elite-division winners split $3,000.

Their reason for being there was simple. They wanted to sweat alongside their colleagues and show off company pride in Miami's biggest annual office party. On this night, they set aside their loyalties to the Dolphins and Marlins, and instead proudly paraded around in their company logos -- everything from Visa and Motorola to Nautilus Middle School and World Fuel Services.

EXUBERANT RUNNERS

As the masses passed by the start line, they waved at the cameras and screamed their company names up at the race announcer, hoping to get a shout-out. "Team Britto! Team Britto!" screamed the runners in the artist's colorful T-shirts. "Mandarin Oriental!" yelled the hotel workers in yellow shirts.

On this night, it was hard to find anyone grumbling about their pay or bosses. It was Happy Hour at its happiest, a time for group photographs and cheers.

There was a runner in a stuffed buffalo head. Another dressed as a giant bowling pin (for Lucky Strike lanes). One ran barefoot. Another ran backward. A few pushed strollers. There were lawyers and chefs, janitors and accountants, rabbis and construction workers. Baptist Health Services had the largest team with 2,533 participants, followed by Norwegian Cruise Lines (392), Assurant (354), Carnival Cruise Lines (311) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (202).

Assurant, an insurance company, also distinguished itself with the best-smelling tent among the 350 that filled Bayfront Park. They had three enormous paellas that could feed 600 people. Javier Saez of Chef Paella catering, said he used more than 75 pounds of rice for the paellas.

A few booths over, Winn Dixie handed out free cookies and chips, wine and cheese.

There were prizes for best T-shirts. Burger King's shirts, which read "Run your buns off," won for Creative Use of Logo. Most Original shirt design went to University of Miami.

LEARNING TO RUN

Most colorful went to the City of Miami Gardens, which had bright green shirts decorated with a runner crossing through a rainbow-colored ribbon. Ron McKenzie, the director of IT for the city of Miami Gardens, was the chairman of its race team, which arrived in three buses. This was the second year it entered, and it grew from 22 participants to 100. McKenzie held training sessions after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past three months.

"Some of the people here didn't ever walk or jog, so we had to start from scratch," McKenzie said. "It's been a great experience and brought people together from all our departments, everyone from police to public works."

Legal Services of Greater Miami, a nonprofit law firm that helps low-income clients, entered the event for the first time this year. It brought 28 people, all decked in mustard-yellow shirts that read: "Running for Justice." Derek Jackson, a company board member, posted the fastest time in 26 minutes 31 seconds.

But it wasn't about times. "It's about team building and camaraderie," attorney Lissette Labrousse said. "We all had so much fun."

That is what race founders Hans and Laurie Huseby of FootWorks want to hear. They started the event a quarter century ago and have watched it grow from 1,315 people in 1985 to the third-largest race of its kind in the United States.

"This is a real personal thing for us," Huseby said, as she watched the start of the race. "It's like planning a wedding every year. There are so many little things that can go wrong, but in the end, it always seems to work out and everyone has a great time. Every tent has a story."

And the stories have nothing to do with contract disputes or salary caps or free agency. There are no agents hovering around these athletes. And no autograph seekers, either. But if there were, it's guaranteed these athletes would sign. With a smile.

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