Running for My Park
The ING New York City Marathon – the world’s largest – will once again wind its way through the City’s five boroughs and cross the iconic finish line in Central Park. In that sea of runners, 32 men and women will be running with Team Central Park. Ranging in age from 27 to 85 and representing 10 different states, they have collectively raised more than $96,000 to keep the Park clean and green for generations to come. Every one of these runners has a story, and a reason why they run for Central Park. Here is 30-year-old New Yorker Sam Teichman’s, in his own words.
I’m running the ING New York City Marathon -- my fourth marathon, third NYC, and the second time I’m dedicating my run to a great cause: the Central Park Conservancy.
When I ran the marathon last year, I decided that — as challenging as it already was — I had a chance to make it about something bigger than myself, so I contributed to, and ran for, the Conservancy. That experience was so intense and rewarding, that I wanted to do it again, only this year on a bigger scale. I wanted everyone to help. More donors, more “running partners,” contributions large and small going a long way in helping the cause — not mine, but the Conservancy’s.
What inspires me to run for Central Park, and fundraise for the Conservancy?
Just before the Marathon, I do a twenty-mile training run around my Park. This is my last gauge of readiness, and gets me excited for the big day. As I attack the pavement for two-and-a-half glorious hours, I witness every possible cross-section of New York City life, every possible joy and leisure, every possible reminder of why this city needs Central Park.
I see parents playing sports with their kids, or cheering them on, everywhere I glance. I see dog walkers and picnickers, bird watchers and tourists. There's a mom and son sharing a hot dog, there’s a group posing for photos by the lake.
There’s Shakespeare at Delacorte Theater, music at the Naumburg Bandshell, and children’s puppet shows at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre. The Park’s 24,000 trees are breathtaking this time of year, on The Mall, and at the Harlem Meer. These visual wonders, these landscaped works of art, don’t happen accidentally. Conservancy staff is hard at work each day, maintaining every inch of the 843-acre Park.
There are dozens of architectural masterpieces that dot the landscapes: statues, bridges, and arches that were part of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s original design. As I run past, I feel them watching over me, safeguarding my running trails and my runs, making my presence feel as firm and permanent as theirs.
As I run past Tavern on the Green, I glance at the clock hovering on the skyline of the southwest corner. I notice the time, and the temperature. It reminds me how all seasons have a place here: sledding in the snow, watching spring bloom, sports and sun in summer, and now the fall, this season, my season...Marathon season.
Central Park is our date spot, our lunch spot, our vacation in town, our show-someone-from-out-of-town. It’s our concert hall, our garden, our cozy waterside nook. This Park - Our Park - it's all of the above, and not just the above. It’s our playground, our escape. It’s our backyard.
And all of us are part of it. With 25 million visitors, it is the most visited urban park in the United States. And thanks to the Conservancy’s work and our support of their efforts over the last 30 years, Central Park thrives as the natural work of art it is today.
On Sunday, I will run across that finish line at Mile 26.2, and beam like a thousand suns, with the knowledge that I conquered this amazing city, and finished this amazing race, in this wonderfully amazing Park.
