Saturday, from 8 a.m., the old press room of the Good public welcomed the participants of the Business Challenge. An event which is in its seventh edition and which allows companies, authorities and other structures to bring together their collaborators for a common challenge: running the 10 km of the race Good public. And there were many of them – 367 competitors or occasional runners compared to 236 last year – to wear a blue jersey in the name of their company.
Some participate every year, such as the interdepartmental chamber of notaries of the Dijon Court of Appeal, which has been faithful to this meeting since 2018. “It has become an institution for us,” indicates Didier Levray. The proof is: there were 50 of them taking the start of this 2023 edition (35 in the 10 km and 15 in the 5 km). “We communicate internally and it is bearing fruit,” continues Guillaume Lorisson, specifying that they hope to be even more numerous in 2024.
Pagot Savoie joined the adventure only last year. “We have a small group of runners and we got started… It’s a unifying moment for us and we are proud to wear the company jersey through a race,” indicates Sébastien Philisot, specifying that some do not hesitate to come from far away, such as from Morteau, to participate.
A 100% female team
As for ATB Auto, this was its third participation, with a particularity: the team is 100% female. Frédérique, Chloé, Valentine… try to motivate the male gender, but without success. “It’s not for lack of asking them,” notes Delphine. Regardless, “there are always more of us”. What motivates them to register? “The pleasure of running together and doing better year after year. »
For certain entities, it was a first, like the Guiton group, France Boissons, the Chopard group, and Enedis Bourgogne. Team spirit, sporting challenge, desire to do an event together… So many reasons that motivated the troops. “It wasn’t hard to mobilize. At Guiton, we have quite sporty employees and everyone responded positively to this request,” says Aline Joly and, “for some, it was also a personal challenge.” Same story with Marie (Chopard group), who saw this race as a way to surpass herself: “It’s been three years since I last raced…” she declared.
“There will be even more of us next year”
At France Boissons, the desire to take part in a common challenge was growing stronger and stronger. Hence the registration of a team for the Business Challenge. “We lined up six runners: all services (sales, sales, delivery drivers, etc.) were represented,” emphasizes Sébastien Pomi. As for Enedis Bourgogne, Alain Commaret, who initiated this first participation, spotted the colleagues running throughout Burgundy and contacted them. They responded, in the different technical or administrative units. “It was an opportunity to race together under the company colors. This allows people who don’t necessarily know each other to come together around a common passion. There were 22 of us at the start of the 10 km and there will be even more of us next year: it’s the start of a cycle,” he says.
The podium in sight
The Enedis Bourgogne team – which only included running aficionados – was not there to make up the numbers and this was seen at the finish line: Jérémy Varoquier and Adrien Lahille arrived third and fourth behind Sami Bounouar (Keolis Dijon multimodalité) and Sacha Cultru (Monnot). But the overall ranking of the Business Challenge takes into account the four best times of the team members. The winners will be revealed during a specific awards ceremony scheduled for Thursday, September 14 at Grand Hotel La Cloche has Dijon.
2023-09-10 00:11:17
#7th #edition #Running #companys #jersey #growing #challenge
