Lawyers show their class in many ways, including sporting prowess, as evidenced by the results of the Fidelity Life Corporate Challenge 5km run and walk.

An event which is all about participation, registrations for the 2015 event opened on 1 July (see www.corporatechallenge.co.nz).

This annual five-kilometre road race will take place in Christchurch’s Hagley Park on 4 November, at Waitangi Park in Wellington on 11 November and the Auckland Domain on 25 November. All races start at 6:30pm. Part of the event is the New Zealand Law Society Legal Challenge.

For a number of years now, lawyers have comprised the biggest industry group taking part in the Corporate Challenge. In fact, lawyers have recently made up nearly half the entries. This fits in well with the ethos of the event, which is to encourage participation.

Along with the great participation by the profession, there were also some great performances in last year’s corporate challenge.

Legal firm entrants finished both first and second in Auckland, with Chapman Tripp’s Peter Sygrove clocking 17 minutes 7 seconds to head off Simpson Grierson’s Waldo Randall.

Madeline Wright, of Brookfields, was the first woman to cross the line, finishing with a time of 20 minutes 1 second.

It was a similar story in the team events, with Chapman Tripp and Simpson Grierson filling first and second placings. Six out of the top 10 women’s teams were from the legal sector, with Chapman Tripp finishing second and Brookfields third.

In Wellington, it was the CEOs who shone, with Amon Nunns of Bell Gully and Andrew Stewart of Morrison Kent finishing first and second. Christine Grice, of the New Zealand Law Society, won the women’s CEO section.

Simpson Grierson won the women’s team event in the capital, while Luke Gilmore of MBH Law and Ceri Knott of Simpson Grierson were third in the men’s and women’s individual standings.

Lane Neave won the women’s team event in Christchurch, while Duncan Cotterill was third in the men’s team race. Cath Jamieson, of Young Hunter, was the fast woman CEO in the Christchurch competition.