June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group's Michael Marriott and Andrew Kimura have $1,000 riding on the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, the charity race that will draw 30,000 runners to Central Park tonight and tomorrow night.

``In terms of bragging rights, this is for the full year,'' said Marriott, 44, who said he's been training for the event.

He and Kimura, 46, co-heads of residential mortgage-backed securities for the Zurich-based bank, divided the 40 people in their department who signed up for the run into teams and bet on the fastest. The group will celebrate after the race with a rooftop barbecue. The winnings will go to charity.

Wall Street bankers and traders, as well as employees of insurers, drugmakers, publishers and hospitals, have been preparing for the 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) race for weeks. For many, it's a fun night in the park, with businesses eager to promote teamwork and camaraderie and many of those starting out in the front ranks finishing the event at a walk. It's also serious competition.

The star of the Credit Suisse team, which runs tomorrow, is John Traugott, a 2003 graduate of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was co-captain of the track-and- field team there his senior year. Traugott, 25, an analyst promoted to associate in the bank's equity capital markets group effective July 1, was the second-fastest man over two nights in the 2006 Corporate Challenge in New York.

``I work with these people intimately day in and day out, and I just want to contribute to that,'' Traugott said. ``I love the community and social aspect of running.''

Series of Races

The Corporate Challenge began in New York in 1977 with 200 runners from 50 companies. It now is a series of races in 12 cities on five continents. Frankfurt is home to the largest number of participants with 67,270 people in its June 13 run.

The event raises money for local charities, including the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the 843-acre (341-hectare) park in the heart of Manhattan under an agreement with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

This year, there are more than 800 teams competing in the two-night New York challenge. Spaces were filled in 36 hours, said Barbara Paddock, senior vice president for strategic initiatives at JPMorgan Chase & Co., sponsor of the event. She's been involved with the race since joining the bank in 1978.

Team sizes range from the minimum of four participants to 1,605 from Morgan Stanley, the world's second-largest securities firm by market value. JPMorgan, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, is fielding about 1,450 runners. There will be about 800 from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest securities firm, and about 600 from Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

Goldman's Team

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world's biggest securities firm, has a team of 550. Almost 800 people tried to register for the event, said Sean Begley, manager of Goldman's fitness center.

All of those runners make for a crowded field. The 15,000 people who will squeeze onto Central Park's roadways each night of the Corporate Challenge is three times the number who ran in last Sunday's WABC Father's Day Fight Against Prostate Cancer 5- mile race in the park.

More than 350 companies are providing hospitality tents and picnic areas for runners in Central Park. Some are organizing after parties at other locations: Credit Suisse, minus Marriott and Kimura's group, plans to celebrate after the race at Gael Pub on Third Avenue at 83rd Street.

Something to Prove

Michael Lustig, 43, a portfolio manager in BlackRock Inc.'s fixed-income group, said the firm treats the Corporate Challenge ``as a fun event that a lot of people can get involved with across the organization.'' It's also a way to prove he can still keep pace with the younger guys, he said.

New York-based BlackRock, the largest publicly traded U.S. asset manager, is renting a tent in Central Park for its runners after the race, he said. After participating in at least 15 Corporate Challenges, Lustig said the number of participants continues to grow and getting 350 people to participate from the firm is as easy as sending out a companywide e-mail.

For Marriott, participating and trying to do well is a matter of pride, he said in an interview.

``Pride is more important than any amount of money or material goods that might exchange hands,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Hester in New York at ehester@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 20, 2007 00:05 EDT