SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The 2007 Metro Silicon Valley Marathon(R) announced today that the field for the third annual Comerica Corporate Challenge this Sunday will be the biggest ever, with 33 corporate teams competing.
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The race will take place on Sunday, Nov. 4 as part of the 2007 marathon event on the San Jose-to-Los Gatos course. The marathon and half-marathon begin at 7 a.m. at the corner of Park Avenue and Almaden Boulevard, San Jose.
The 33 companies with an expected 238 runners include defending champion Genentech, which has not lost since the competition began in 2005. The companies are expected to field teams of runners at several distances, including the half-marathon, the distance at which the winner of The Comerica Cup, which goes to the "Fastest Company in Silicon Valley," will be determined.
Genentech's three half-marathoners last year recorded a cumulative time of 4:45:25, compared to its three-runner total of 4:16:37 in the inaugural event. Comerica Bank won the prize for the largest corporate running team last year, a prize won by Team Yahoo! in 2005. The corporate challenge event has grown since that first year, when 150 runners from 15 companies competed. A prize also will be given to the fastest women's team. Second and third-place prizes will be awarded in each category.
Teams competing this weekend include Adobe Systems, Apple, Applied Materials, Cisco, Google, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Oracle, San Jose State University, SAP, Sun Microsystems and Yahoo. To qualify, a company had to have at least five runners sign-up for any combination of the marathon, half- marathon, and 5K run/walk races.
In addition to the trophies and bragging rights, the 2007 Comerica Corporate Challenge will feature a donation to The Health Trust's Wellness, Education & Prevention Fund in honor of the winning teams. This money will directly fund programs that advance wellness in the Santa Clara County community, including The Health Trust's Children's Dental Services, Healthy Silicon Valley, Aids Services and The Women's Health Fund; as well as to other select community non-profits.
"The growth in this friendly competition shows that the competitive spirit is alive and well in Silicon Valley," said Mike Fulton, president and CEO of Comerica Bank's Western Market. "It's great that a record number of companies are joining this year's competition for The Comerica Cup."
About The Metro Silicon Valley Marathon
The 2007 Metro Silicon Valley Marathon returns this year for its 10th running, with thousands of participants and spectators alike descending upon the technology capital of the world to compete in one of the most popular running events on the West Coast. Under management by Evolve Sports, LLC, the producers of The Mavericks Surf Contest(R), The Metro Silicon Valley Marathon offers new and seasoned runners the chance to compete in a Marathon, a Half Marathon, the 5K Run/Walk presented by The Community Newspapers, and the Phelps Cohen Orthodontics Kids Races. Title sponsor Metro Newspapers publishes an award-winning weekly publication that is read by more than 700,000 Bay Area residents each month. The official benefiting charity is The Health Trust (http://www.healthtrust.org/).
About Comerica Bank
Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated , a Fortune 500 financial services company based in Dallas, and strategically aligned into three major business segments: the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica focuses on relationships and helping businesses and people be successful. Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated , a financial services company headquartered in Dallas and among the 20 largest U.S. banking companies, with $60 billion in assets at Sept. 30, 2007. For more information, visit http://www.comerica.com/ .
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