Saturday, June 14 was the fourth time I participated in the Corporate Cup Relays, which is a friendly competition between Detroit’s Big 3 automakers. The event has a long history and has taken place since the late 1980s. Once again, Stellantis (aka Chrysler), Ford, and GM recruited employees, contractors, interns, and retirees to compete. Those companies made up division I, and this year Nissan and Rocket Mortgage also participated in division II.

I competed with the GM team in 2015 and 2018, running a 10K in Lathrup Village my first time and both the 5K and 10K around Belle Isle my second time. The event didn’t take place the first couple years I worked for Stellantis because of COVID, then the 5K was canceled by the city of Berkley in 2022. I got to double up with the 5K and 10K again in Berkley in 2023, but then the whole event was canceled in 2024 due to construction on the track. It’s been an on and off kind of ride, but I was happy to run again this year at Anderson Middle School in Berkley. This time the city was fine with the 5K but not the 10K because there was another big event that day and they didn’t want to close roads for us too late into the morning. 

Although I was happy to contribute to the team by running the 5K, I usually favor distance running. I can be intimidated by 5Ks because I’d rather run longer distances at a slower pace than shorter distances at a faster pace. Knowing that the event was coming, I was disciplined enough to finally do a few training sessions with shorter bursts of speed. Considering how I was already concerned about being properly trained for the 5K, you can imagine how I felt when I was asked to run a couple of 800m events on the track. That question came a couple weeks before the race when our team captain Ron told me that we didn’t have enough women for some of the track events. I told him that I’d never raced on the track and it terrified me! There would be a lot of downtime between the 5K and the 800s and I was scared I would stiffen up and tweak something by trying to run so fast. Ron told me there was no pressure to say yes, but of course I started to impose that pressure on myself anyway. I knew I was physically capable, I just didn’t WANT to. At the same time, I knew it would be better to have someone in the events for a chance at scoring some points rather than taking a zero because we didn’t have enough people. I wanted to help the team. I reluctantly decided to attend track practice a couple days later to see what I thought.

I ran a time trial at our practice to see what I might do for an 800 and ran it in 3:15. When I actually do speedwork and run 800 repeats I usually aim for 3:30. At least I was faster than that. A few people stuck around at the end of practice to learn about the baton hand-off for the relays. All of this was new to me and I was a bit overwhelmed by the logistics of planning when the front person should start running as their person came in and how to slap the baton into their hand all while staying in the lane. I was paired with a guy who was so fast I couldn’t catch him to hand it off! We practiced enough to get a feel for it and I was sore for several days after this session.

We had another practice a couple days before the big event and took it easier. I learned that since I’d be doing the 800, the hand-off would be a bit slower and easier than what the true sprinters were practicing. Still, this track aspect of running had me totally out of my element. I may be able to run a marathon but this felt like a whole different world. At least I learned that I was not alone in my discomfort. Several other people at the practice were long-distance runners like me. One woman was a swimmer, and one guy initially signed up to walk the 5K and decided to try something on the track even though he doesn’t run. If they could do it, surely I could too.

I took it easy in the days leading up to the race in hopes that I would be fresh for the 5K. I got to Anderson Middle School around 7am to check in at our team tent and did a few laps around the track to warm up as we got closer to the 8am start.

The race started on the track then ran out into the neighborhood for an out-and-back route. One great thing about the course was that it was 100% flat! That sure helped me run a fast time. There were 121 runners and five minutes later 29 more people started the 5K walk. 

I basically ran hard and hoped I could hang on – my typical approach to a 5K. I managed to average right around or just below a 7:00 pace which is about the best I ever run for a 5K. The competitive nature of wanting to help my team gave me some extra motivation whenever I saw women in front of me. It all comes down to placement in age groups and I suspected some of the women could be younger, but I kept pushing because I didn’t know. I basically ran with a grimace on my face for much of the race as I tried to hang on to that speed. When we hit the track for the finish I really pushed to get ahead of a woman who was just in front of me. It didn’t matter in the end because she was running in another division for Rocket Mortgage, but she still helped me give it everything I had at the end. 

My time of 21:47 was good for first in my age group and I was actually the second woman overall! It was the fastest 5K I had run since 2017 so I was thrilled. Happy Pace Timing did a great job with the results, even including the company logos.

We had some snacks at our team tent then I went back out to the track to cheer for teammates who were still finishing. I found my baton partner from practice and took pictures with some of the team.

When everyone was done we got a big team photo with the morning group since a bunch of people were just there for the 5K. I usually take off after the morning road races but this time I had a much longer day ahead of me. Since we were done with the group photo by 9:15 and I wouldn’t run again until after 1:30, I had some time to kill.

My friend Marty lives in Berkley so I had checked in with him prior to the race. He told me that Art Bash was taking place in the city that day and that his wife Cheryl had a booth. I wanted to make sure I didn’t stiffen up after the 5K and thought a nice walk to see them at the art fair would help. 

After visiting for a bit I walked back to my car then went to Jimmy John’s. I still had time to kill so I took a sandwich over to my mom’s for an hour-long visit. I didn’t really know how to eat for the day with races five hours apart. If something usually works for me as pre-race food the night before a race, would that mean it could also work the day of?

I got back to the track an hour before my 1:30 relay. Now things were getting a bit more stressful because I was not excited about running the 800. I met up with my relay partners and we were able to practice the baton hand-offs on the turf in the middle of the track. It really wasn’t too bad since we wouldn’t be flying as fast as the true sprinters. One of my teammates was an intern who is more of a swimmer, and my other teammate was my age and also runs longer distances. That meant none of us were super comfortable with the event which reassured me…a little bit. It also helped that Marty stopped by the track with JoJo, his Golden Retriever. She trained with Leader Dogs for the Blind and had a “career change.” It was great to have a therapy dog visit prior to this thing!

My 800 leg started the relay and even though I knew I could move to lane one right after we started, everyone (including my competitors) yelled at me to move over because I hadn’t. I was disheveled from the start! Then there was the issue of battling dry mouth. Trying to run as fast as I could while huffing and puffing was bad enough, but doing so when it felt like I had cotton in my mouth? I had been hydrating but apparently the Jimmy John’s sandwich was NOT the right choice. I had worried about my stomach but never even imagined battling a dry mouth. I was dragging well behind the leaders and it felt pretty hopeless. I knew my teammates would have a lot of ground to make up if we’d stand a chance at all!

I got through my two laps without tweaking anything and we had a successful baton handoff so that was something good at least. I ran my leg in 3:12 which was a few seconds faster than my time trial attempt at practice a couple weeks earlier.

Our team came in second out of three and my teammates ran their 400 segments in the same time or a second faster than my first 400 so at least it wasn’t like I was so crazy slow that I dragged the whole team down.

Then I had two hours to kill before putting myself through that torture again. It was fun to hang out by the track and cheer for everyone. It was also fun to watch some of the “real” sprinters at work and see how it should really be done. It was in the low 70s and with the sun beating down in the middle of the day it got a bit warm. I already had enough factors working against me and knew I should probably get out of the sun for a while. I had brought a chair and went to our team tent to rest my legs and enjoy the shade. I continued to hydrate with both water and electrolytes in hopes that I could shake the cotton mouth thing the next time around. 

I spent plenty of time throughout the day chatting with other runners. A woman from GM came over to our tent and was super cool. The camaraderie at this event was one thing that was especially great. It didn’t matter that we were “competitors” because when runners get together and start talking about running, it’s easy to relate. The father of one of my relay teammates works for GM and knew that I had been with their team in the past. We also cross paths running on the trail all the time so it was fun to learn that I was teamed up with his daughter. I caught up with GM’s former team captain and he was kind enough to help explain how the track events would work since I was clueless. Although we cheered for our own teams first and foremost, it felt like we were also rooting for everyone in general. Some of us (like me) were not exactly killing it out there, so it was pretty cool when people provided extra support by cheering. It was especially heart-warming when everyone gathered at the side of the track to cheer for a group from the Special Olympics who ran a 100-yard dash in the middle of the event.

As 3:30 rolled around I got ready to run 800 again. This time it was a standalone 800 rather than a relay. My legs were not especially fresh as I jogged around the field to warm up. After such a strong 5K and attempting 800 once already, my expectations weren’t very high. My teammate Natalie was also in the women’s 800. Since she’d beaten me by a minute in the 5K, I felt like the pressure was off. SHE could help our team! GM didn’t submit the name of their runner on time so it was just the two of us running against a few women from Ford. When we gathered together they looked at Natalie and me and said, “Ohhhh no.” I tried to reassure them that I wasn’t good at this either. As we took off, I was trailed behind once again. The dry mouth came back immediately too. I had questioned if I should just eat some of my Picky Bars all day to fuel for this and I guess that would have been a better option than the sandwich.

While I had gone out too fast for the first lap during the relay and slowed down by a few seconds for the second lap, this time my splits were more even. I was also several seconds slower overall. However, by the time I hit the second lap, one of the Ford women actually just STOPPED as I passed her. Apparently she had gone out too fast and couldn’t maintain it. While this was not especially great for me, I certainly wasn’t alone. With a time of 3:17, I finished nearly 30 seconds after Natalie, but we came in first and second which was great for our team.

There were a couple events left after my race then it became official that Stellantis was the big winner of the Corporate Cup.

The schedule had an awards ceremony listed but nothing actually took place. We did receive medals after each of the events.

It was kind of anti-climatic after the last event with people wandering off the track and heading out. A bunch of Stellantis employees hung out and we posed for a picture with the plaque that will soon feature our name as 2025 winners.

Although I didn’t exactly love my track experience, I’m glad it gave me an excuse to hang out for the full day. The road race part of the event is fun but the camaraderie aspect of hanging out at the track all day was something I hadn’t experienced in past years since I always left after I was done. I would still be very reluctant to do track events in the future because it is clear that I am better at running long distances. If we are short on people I’d probably cave and be a team player again though. If so, I have learned NOT to eat a sandwich and to stick with bars instead! I don’t think I’ve experienced dry mouth like that while running before and I hope it never happens again. I would also hope to have a little more time to prepare. I was a last-minute addition to the track events so I hadn’t done the proper kind of speedwork in my training. I wouldn’t magically turn into a sprinter but I’m sure a little targeted training would be somewhat helpful.

It was a long but successful and fun day and I’m proud that our Stellantis team totally killed it!

– Janet

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