Changing the World is a Walk in the Park

Team Signs at the CPC

New to the Central Park Challenge this year:

In an effort to reduce plastic and go green, this year we have done away with the yellow team signs and are looking for teams to create their own exciting, personalized team signs! Make them as BIG, bright, fun and unique as possible and show your team pride! YAI is all about celebrating our differences so we think this is a great way to express that celebration!

Don’t forget to swing by the Team Photo Booth after the walk to snap a picture with your sign! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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Pinkberry

Announcing an exciting new partnership with New York’s favorite frozen yogurt; Pinkberry! Visit any Pinkberry location on June 1 after the Central Park Challenge (Don’t forget to wear your CPC shirt) for %20 off your purchase!

Locations nearest the park:

313 Columbus Ave between 74th and and 75th Street

2041 Broadway between 70th and 71st Street

1577 2nd Ave between 81st and 82nd Street

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Predawn Runner

We are thrilled to be a part of a fantastic running blog, Predawn Runner! Check out our blog post here.

http://predawnrunner.com/2013/04/central-park-challenge-5k/

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Beyond disability…

“When you are in a wheelchair you become limited to tarmac and places that are built up and I enjoy just not being in those places.”

When you’re seen as having a disability, you become limited to those things that others believe you are capable of. When we talk about seeing beyond disability we’re talking about the importance of breaking away from limitations in general, whether they’re working at a job or running in a marathon.

Cognitive differences and physical differences are both seen as disabilities, and we’re so inspired by this example of seeing beyond those limitations and achieving something amazing that we wanted to share it here.

Hopefully seeing these photos of hand-bike riders making their way to the summit of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia will inspire you too!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22283156

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We’re so inspired by the amazing girls’ running club at Rise Academy and we’re honored that they’ve chosen the Central Park Challenge to be the culmination of their mentor and training program. Here, Amanda Grieger explains how the running club is changing these girls’ lives while supporting YAI’s mission.

Kristen Jones and I are teachers at Rise Academy, a KIPP charter school in Newark, New Jersey. She and I selected twenty 5^th to 8^th girls to participate in the program. Through the structure of a running club, 5^th - 8^th grade girls will learn to set fitness goals and be coached in how to reach their goals using individualized training plans. With the help of their coaches and sponsors, girls will use their training plans to prepare for a 5K race in Manhattan (goal of running it all without any walking!) We asked other teachers at Rise Academy, our friends and family members to each sponsor a girl. We carefully matched each runner with a sponsor, and began training just over a month ago. Below is the information that we gave the girls about the running club.

What are we going to do in the running club?

We’re going to run! And run and run and run and run. It’s going to hurt at the beginning, but by June you’re going to get in the best shape ever. You’ll also get to enjoy the outdoors in the spring, learn how to train for a road race, make new friends, and meet adult runners. We’ll train three days a week at West Side Park so that you are ready to run (without any walking!) a 5K race in Central Park (The Central Park Challenge) on June 1^st! You’ll be running this road race with hundreds of other runners. In addition, every girl is going to get a sponsor to run with on this day!

What is a sponsor?

Every girl is going to be paired with an adult female runner. This adult will purchase each running club participant a pair of running shoes and cover the race entry fees. You’ll get to meet your sponsor before June, stay in contact with them through emails and phone calls, and they’ll run the entire 5K with you on June 1^st! After the race that day we’ll have a celebratory brunch in Manhattan. Hopefully your sponsor will be someone who will inspire you to become a runner, and who you will stay in contact with even when this program is over!

Amazing! We can’t wait to see the girls cross the finish line in their hot pink T-shirts!