What happens when you get about 15,000 cube dwellers, outfit them in matching corporate tees, then set them loose in Central Park? Why, the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, duh!

Yesterday was the first day of the New York branch of the 3.5ish mile race in Central Park. And judging by the many Lehman Bros, Morgan Stanley, Goldman and of course JPMorgan shirts in the crowd on Wednesday, the race might as well be called the Bankerthon.

The event is fascinating for a number of reasons.

For one, you spend a good amount of time milling about before the race starts, jockeying for position — with 15,000 people, you actually have to wait to start. During that time you largely check out the crowd and make judgments about people based on where they work. (Of course that emaciated hardcore-looking man works for a law firm. How did I know that?) It’s like what you do everyday, except with more context. And then there’s the alienating realization that you, too, have been branded by your company’s t-shirt.

So about the t-shirts. LVMH — who would have thought so cheesy? Black with metallic lettering. Morgan Stanley - yawn; blue with white company name. Invert those colors and you’ve got Lehman Brothers, except with something nonsensical on the back. Goldman’s resembled some Nike concoction you might buy in a store — grey with various futuristic shapes of some sort. Lazard? On par with most of the law firms shirts, which were for the most part utterly unmemorable. Would have that Googlers could have been a bit more creative than just using the ‘ole rainbow logo. Blackrock broke the boring mold with a Smurfy blue; personally I liked Schroders’, which resembled soccer shirts.

Oh, and of course the race. There’s something very gratifying about “beating” your corporate competition, even when both of you are clocking 10-minute miles. Which I guess is the whole point of it. And that it’s for a good cause, of course. And let’s not mention the people who had to stop and walk (note, no offense to those who walked the whole way through). What is your major malfunction?

Here are the unofficial results of Day 1. Will someone act as our eyewitness for Day 2 tomorrow?