Photo by Howard Owens.
When the runners take the line today for the 10th GLOW Corporate Cup at Centennial Park Thursday evening, at least a dozen of the participants will share the rare distinction of being the only ones to take to the track every year of the event.
That will make them part of a fundraiser that will surpass this year's $200,000 in cumulative donations to the GLOW YMCA since 2014.
Close to 800 runners and walkers are expected to complete the 5K track, said race organizer Steve Tufts.
Tufts has organized the race since the first year, because Merrill Lynch office partner John Riter approached him about organizing a corporate challenge style 5K more than a decade ago. Riter came to Tufts because Tufts had experience laying out courses and ensuring they obtain 5K certification.
"The thing that makes the GLOW Cup unique is we entertain people," Tufts said. "We bring live music. This year it's Groove, a local band, and it's always a local band, and most of the teams bring their own food, have it catered, or cook right on site. It's like a corporate picnic built right into Centennial Park."
A twist this year to the race is the "couples challenge," or as it's known at the Corporate Cup, the "CUPles Challenge." The three married couples with the lowest cumulative times will win prizes, with a random drawing prize that all couples, regardless of time, are eligible to win.
Tufts said some smaller companies now use the Corporate Cup as their company's annual picnic, saving the expense of doing a separate event. One local company used to set up their own horseshoe pits each year.
"It's different things to different people," Tufts told The Batavian last week while visiting the Media Center at the Genesee County Fair. "But I think the thing that makes it successful is it's the GLOW region, and people do enjoy a night where they're not heading all the way over to the Rochester or Buffalo areas. This is in our back yard. From a runner's perspective, people do like the course because it's super fast. It is accurate. It's a certified course, which means it's an accurate distance, but it's not eligible for World Records, I'm sorry to say, because it's got a little bit too much down elevation for the distance. That is because we start out by the Blind School, and it goes down the hill down to Northside Deli and then turns left, and then it's pretty flat after that. So, just a little bit too much down for USA Track and Field Conference."
The certification expires in 2024, so Tufts plans to alter the course to start closer to State Street and end the race further up Ellicott Avenue, which should solve the elevation problem, just in case anybody wants to try and set a world record for his or age bracket.
Merrill Lynch chose the GLOW YMCA because the Y, like the Batavia Merrill Lynch office, serves the entire GLOW region.
The bonus is, the Y comes with a built-in set of volunteers.
"Right now, I'd say I wouldn't want it any other way," Tufts said. "I'm not sure how long I would get 70 people out on my course keeping people safe (without the Y). So it's been a great partnership."
Corporate sponsors help cover event expenses, which ensures all of the $25 entry fees go to the Y, Tufts said. Because of corporate sponsors, the organizers have been able to maintain the $25 entry fee, so it remains affordable for small businesses and individuals.
In the first year of the race, Tufts said they were expecting about 350 participants. They had more than 400. It went up every year until more than 800 in 2019, the last race before the pandemic. There was no race in 2020, and in 2021 numbers were down. In 2021, there were more than 700 again, but Tufts doesn't expect to exceed 800 this year because race participation across the nation, he said, is down since the pandemic.
The event has drawn a lot of sponsor support this year, and with anticipated participation from runners and walkers, Tufts expects to raise more than $25,000 for the Y this year, stopping the 2019 record of $23,005.
Last year was the second-best year at $22,963.
Going into this year, the cumulative total was nearly $180,000 raised.
The race starts at 6 p.m. today (Thursday).
