Miami Corporate Run celebrates 40th anniversary Thursday. What you should know
A crowd of more than 18,500 workers and executives from 751 companies will descend on Bayfront Park in downtown Miami at 6:45 p.m. Thursday for the Lexus Miami Corporate Run, otherwise known as the city’s largest office party.
It is the 40th anniversary of the event, and to celebrate the occasion, all finishers will receive a commemorative medal.
The 5K (3.1-mile) race and all the festivities that surround it are slowly, but surely getting back to normal after COVID put a damper on things for a few years. Royal Caribbean is back for the first time since the pandemic with 734 participants registered, the largest team in the event.
The next-biggest groups, in order, are Visa (266), Goodwill South Florida (225), Banco Santander International (173), Morgan Stanley (170), City of Miami (168), Gables Engineering (162), JP Morgan & Chase Co. (159), Leon Medical Centers (152), and Miami-Dade County (148).
“We had 26,000 to 28,000 people pre-pandemic, and it has taken some time to get companies back, but we are getting more and more each year,” said Derek Hodes, executive director of TeamFootWorks, which produces the Corporate Run events. “Some companies no longer exist, others restructured, but it’s great to have a company like Royal Caribbean back with such a big team.”
Last year’s top three male finishers were: Tomas Vercellana (Santander Private Banking) in 16:00, Steven A Lazar (PricewaterhouseCoopers) in 16:07, and Phillip Woerner (Kaufman Rossin) in 16:13. The Top 3 female finishers were: Alice Henley (City of Miami Beach) in 17:47, Daniela Espino (Rice iRun) in 18:00 and Piper Lee Francis (CKO Kickboxing) in 18:29.
The Top 3 CEOs were: Luis F Caicedo of Calop Freight Services (18:53), Gilles Mercier of Barfield Inc. (19:17) and Francisco Soler of MAS Advisors (19:44).
Race organizers strongly recommend car-pooling, public transportation, or ride sharing on race day to avoid traffic and delays.
Streets start to close by 6 p.m. Thursday, according to Miami police. A counter flow traffic pattern begins around 3 p.m. and continues until about 11 p.m.
Northbound traffic on Biscayne Boulevard will be shifted into two southbound lanes at Southeast First Street and continue north, until Northeast Fourth Street, where traffic will be allowed to shift back into the northbound lanes. Southbound traffic on Biscayne Boulevard will be reduced to two lanes of traffic from Northeast Sixth Street and may continue traveling south on Biscayne Boulevard. Access to PortMiami will remain open on Northeast Fifth Street. Police recommend using the PortMiami Tunnel from Interstate 395.
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Biscayne Boulevard is dark Thursday night and there is no Miami Heat home game scheduled, either. For more information, go to lexuscorporaterun.com
Herald writer Howard Cohen contributed to this report