The 15th Annual Chase Corporate Challenge on Long Island, held at Jones Beach State Park on Tuesday evening, July 25, attracted 8,227 employee runners and walkers from 261 corporations, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations to participate in a 3.5 mile road race on Jones Beach's Bay Parkway, followed by what has become known as "Long Island's biggest office picnic." The 2000 Chase Corporate Challenge was, once again, the largest participatory sporting event of any kind held on Long Island this year.

Top finisher overall in this year's Chase Corporate Challenge was 42-year-old Don Di Donato of Federal Express, a resident of Hicksville who covered the 3.5 miles in 17:57. It was Don's seventh victory in the last eight years and, as been so often the case in the past, Don was the winner at the expense of Kevin Krause of the Suffolk County Police Department, who stayed stride for stride with Don for three miles, before being out kicked in the final half mile. Kevin finished in 18:08. Robis DeGirmenci of Arrow Electronics was third in 19:09, and John Del Maestro of the United States Postal Service was fourth in 19:13.

Ellen Brach of the New York City Board of Education was the first woman to cross the finish line, scoring in 21:02, comfortably ahead of Diane Bownes of Optical Heights (21:58), Jennifer Schretzmayer of Brookhaven National Laboratories (22:28) and Jean Bohan of Marsh, Inc. (22:57).

James Reid of Aetna US Healthcare was the first CEO to finish in 23:01 and Laura Cassell of Catholic Charities repeated as the top Female CEO in 29:58.

Ellen Brach's great finish led the NYC Board of Education to victory in the Women's Team Competition. The NYC Board of Education also took first place in the Coed Team Competition and Brookhaven National Laboratories took top honors among the Men's Teams.

The Chase Home Equity Largest Participation Award went to Cablevision, with 329 participants. The T-Shirt Contest Awards for 2000 went to Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein in the "Most Creative" category. Mercy Medical Center in the "Most Colorful" category, Henry Schein, Inc. in the "Most Corporate" category, and Meltzer Lippe Goldstein & Schissel in the "Best Use of the Chase Corporate Challenge Logo" category.

The Chase Corporate Challenge series is staged in 13 locations throughout the United States and in three international locations - London, Frankfurt and Sydney, Australia. Winning teams from each race are invited to participate in the Chase Corporate Challenge Championship held on Park Avenue in New York City in October. In 1999, more than 192,500 runners and walkers from nearly 6,500 organizations participated worldwide in the Chase Corporate Challenge.

The Chase Corporate Challenge on Long Island is administered by the Greater Long Island Running Club, with Mike Polansky serving as the race director, Mindy Davidson as the deputy race director, Don Butchin as the logistics director, Mary Anne Goldman as the coordinator of volunteers, Dr. Kenneth Ong as the medical director, and David Katz as the technical director. The Wantagh and Melville Volunteer Fire Departments and the Northport Fire Department Bike Patrol helped out with emergency medical teams.

"This is an event that gets better and better every year," observed Deputy Race Director Davidson. "It provides an incredible venue for companies to provide health and fitness opportunities in the workplace, while promoting goodwill and camaraderie among their employees. Our club is thrilled to be a part of it in partnership with our good friends at The Chase Manhattan Bank. Congratulations to Don Di Donato and all the other finishers for a job well done."