The Daily Dose
CDPHP® Workforce Team Challenge
We’re excited … are you? This Thursday is the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge, an annual 3.5-mile race that draws nearly 10,000 Capital Region runners and walkers. The event is coordinated by the Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club and CDPHP is the lead sponsor for the fifth consecutive year.
Whether you run, walk, or cheer on the participants, the race is sure to be a fun event, and a portion of the proceeds go to four local charities: Fast Break Fund, Rebuilding Together Saratoga County, Schenectady Inner City Ministry, and St. Catherine’s Center for Children.
This year’s race has a few new enhancements: First, the course is newly certified and the starting line has been moved to alleviate some of the congestion at the beginning. These changes should allow for faster run times. . Second, live music will be featured at several locations along the course.
Why is it such a huge draw? One reason could be that it’s a fun team-building exercise for companies that also encourages employee fitness and health.
Creative Communication Associates (CCA) employees tell us that they participate in the Workforce Team Challenge both for team camaraderie and to promote a healthy lifestyle. As one person put it, “This event helps bring us all together, encourage one another, and celebrate each other’s success at the completion of the event.”
For GTM Payroll Services, the Workforce Team Challenge is an event celebrated from the top down. Guy Maddalone, the company’s founder and CEO, placed a very respectable 76th out of 108 in the 2013 CEO race, with a time of 39:33. His feeling about the race, and about employee health in general is, “Our responsibility to our employees is to provide them with the knowledge, support, and tools to make healthy lifestyle changes for themselves and their families. If we can be a catalyst for that change, then we feel we are doing our part.”
These are just a couple of examples of why local companies are joining the Workforce Team Challenge in droves. By supporting team camaraderie and encouraging ongoing wellness, it helps to drive employee productivity, too.
For more information, please visit the race website. Or, you can find us on Facebook. We’re also looking for people to share experiences on Twitter using #TeamChallenge. Good luck!
Ali Skinner About the Author
Ali Skinner is a communications professional with nearly 20 years of media, marketing, advertising, and public relations experience. She joined CDPHP in November 2011 and currently serves as Vice President, Communications and External Affairs for one of the top health plans in New York and the nation. In this role, Ali oversees all internal and external communications, public relations, and government relations for the plan’s 400,000 members and 1,200 employees. A self-described recovering journalist, Ali spent 10 years writing and delivering news for a number of television and radio stations in the Syracuse and Albany, NY markets. Today, she uses her journalism background to help patients and the public make sense of complex health care topics.
Danika Atkins
I’m really excited to take part with team Zone 5. CDPHP has shown a tremendous dedication towards *real* wellness in the Capital Region. I think this race further demonstrates their more holistic stance. We have folks who are walking, jogging, and running on our end. Can’t wait to get out there!
CEO
CEO is so excited to be running in the Workforce Team Challenge! Thanks for challenging our organization, and others, to be healthier and more active – and to have fun while doing it. We are also so thankful for our joint partnership in the Community Health Project!
SarahNicole Mahoney
Creative Communications had a great time at the Workforce Challenge last night! So great to see so many people coming together with a healthy and kind competitive spirit. And our own Karen Dolge came in among the top 10 finishers! YAY!