A Day of Hope in Central Park.

See Photos of this day here.

By all measure, this year’s Central Park Challenge was the biggest and the best in 23 years! There were more adults, more kids, more runners, more supporters and more refreshments! Choc full O’ Nuts, one of the refreshment sponsors for the day, brought a whole new feel to the park when it showed up in it’s “Coffee Bus”– a little reminiscent of the icecream man, but for adults (though the crazy parents these days will let their kids eat anything!).

As always, the Play area was alive with hundreds of energetic little people, draped in sometimes oversized orange shirts (this year, the Central Park Challenge stayed true to it’s brand colors– the park was alive with blue, yellow and orange). Face painting , sand art, the bouncing castle and the Jr. All American Races, all staples of the Central Park Challenge, were present again this year. One new addition to the show however was Audra Rox: from my vantage point, she sounded good, but I think she recieved mixed reviews overall. Whatever the case, the Play area was a success this year, and I hope the Central Park Challenge keeps it a success each year by reinventing it frequently.

The stage area this year was amazing! It had a huge yellow stage skirt with all the event sponsors listed in blue. On the stage itself, there was a HUGE-ONGOUS sign that read “A DAY OF HOPE” that acted as the back drop to all the perfomances. Close to the end of the event, as Dr. K’s Motown review brought the day to a close with “Ain’t no mountain high enough” (can you say authentic motown?!), I stood at the back of the crowd and marvelled at the number of people who had braved the warnings of a potential “severe thunderstom”, to be in Central Park, to celebrate this Day of Hope. As the last notes of the song were sang, the towering ”A DAY OF HOPE” sign on stage seemed to bolster the words of Dr. K’s music, and send a wave of excitement through the crowd which quickly rose, and then broke with loud cheers and applause…

…and then the rain finally came.

But by then most people had expended all the Hope they had been holding in for this wonderful event, for a year. And boy had they expended. Earlier in the day (7am-ish), most of these people that were now being ushered out of the park by the rain had run a 5k race, or walked and cheered a mile to show their support for people with disabilities, or both. The rain couldn’t have come at a more opportune time– people needed to be sent home to go recharge for next year’s Central Park Challenge. Will you be there?

I found some pictures of the day here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy and leave a message.