For sprinter Michelle Skibola, it was an opportunity to compete in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, have some fun - and be inspired at the same time. The Florham Park, N.J.-based treasury analyst referred to Special Olympians; "watching them run and giving their all is really something to see," she says. "It pumps you up."

The event: Booz…Allen's participation in the U.S. Corporate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Corporate Track & Field Championships July 20-21 in San Diego. And the cause: Special Olympics International, for which the 26 Booz…Allen athletes -- drawn from offices worldwide -- raised, through pledges, more than $12,000.

Booz…Allen placed second out of six corporate teams that comprised the Division 11 category of companies with 10,000 or fewer employees. In last year's USCAA Championships in Des Moines, the first such competition for the firm, a Booz…Allen team of 11 placed third out of 13 corporate teams. USCAA is a U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization that promotes health and fitness for corporate employees.

"Overall, we did well in some tough competition and several of our athletes achieved personal records," says team co-captain Gordon Smith, a Vienna,Va.-based associate and USCAA board member. Those athletes included xxx (maybe two mentions of people who did well).

Receiving particular recognition was xxx of xxx, honored by the Booz…Allen team member raising the greatest amount per pledge. As a result, he receives two round-trip United Airlines tickets. The firm won the first "USCAA Booz…Allen Charity Cup," an annual traveling trophy, after issuing a "charity challenge" to fellow USCAA competitors, encouraging each team to raise funds for Special Olympics International.

Lucey called the Booz…Allen team a blend of serious and recreational athletes, bound by a love of sport and the prospect of raising money for a good cause. He belongs to the "serious" category - along with Smith, Dave Kent (Crystal Square 11, Va.) and Mark Arnsberger (McLean), he ran the 100th Boston Marathon in April, and used the occasion to raise more than $500 in pledges for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Speaking of the USCAA event in San Diego, Siegbert Steuck, the Dusseldorf-based financial manager for German Operations, 5,000-meter runner and avid triathlete who raised more than $1,400, may have put it best: "I know the pledges I received from around the office went to a good cause," he says. "That is very rewarding."

Companies converged on the UCSD campus in La Jolla, CA to complete in the 19th Annual USCAA Nationals. Lockheed Martin pulled off an upset by being was the first team in 15 years to beat GE or AT&T for the overall Division I title.

Division IA: (6 teams)
1. Lockheed-Martin
2. General Electric
3. Exxon

Division IAA: (9 teams)
1. Texas Instruments
2. Principal Financial Group
3. US West

Division IIA: (4 teams)
1. Pacific Enterprises
2. BoozďAllen & Hamilton
3. Enron

Division IIAA: (4 teams)
1. Aerospace
2. Ruan
3. General Atomics