UN Day in Central Park: Bringing the UN to You
Our 2026 UN Day Race sported a pretty good crowd, even more than last year.
This past Saturday, October 24, the 81st anniversary of the United Nations, 147 of you registered for our seventh annual UN Day Race in Central Park. Some ran, some walked, some rode bikes, and together we marked UN Day out in the open, in the city the UN calls home.
You came from near and far. A couple from Connecticut chose to spend her birthday weekend with us because they believe in social justice. Two families visiting from Germany and France found the race online and ran with their children. Thank you, all of you. You showed that the work of the United Nations matters to you. It matters to us too.
Left: Our gold medal winner this year was Florian Eichhorn, who was first to finish the race, at 22 minutes, in 5 miles. Right: our silver medal winner was 10 year old Anna Tos, who finished at at 27:17 minutes, in 5 miles, seen here with her father Daniel and a family friend.
UN Day 2026 Race volunteers Lalash Segooa and Khutso Segooa; UNFCU’s Liz Philippe; and volunteers Lauren Tse and Ceci Nicol.
With deep thanks
This year, for the first time, the race had sponsors. UN Federal Credit Union, which has supported UNA-NYC for years, was our Presenting Sponsor, and its team ran with us. Dr. Bruce Gelb, a longtime friend of our Worldview seminars, sponsored the race in the name of Hrvatska Udruga za Promicanje, the Croatian Association for Patients' Rights. Logo Tags made our shirts and medals, with a discount and free delivery. We are deeply grateful to each of you.
A huge thank you to Sheryl Alemany, who founded the race in 2020. Without her, we wouldn't be doing this at all. For the first time in seven races, she couldn't be in the park, so she prepared everything ahead and directed the race by phone from North Carolina. Sheryl, you're amazing, and this race was yours as much as anyone's.
Thank you to our volunteers, Khutso Segooa, Lalash Segooa, Lauren Tse and Ceci Nicol, for your time, your energy and your care.
The UN you may not hear about
When something goes wrong in the world, people ask what the UN is doing. The UN isn't perfect. But most of its work never reaches the news. It happens every day, carried out by people whose names we'll never know.
This year's race theme was Good Health and Well-Being, and health is where the UN's record speaks loudest. Polio once paralyzed 350,000 children a year. Thanks to the WHO, UNICEF, Rotary and their partners, cases are down 99.9 percent, and about 20 million people are walking who would otherwise have been paralyzed. Remember that the next time you walk, run or ride through the park.
The UN is also closer to home than you think. Hurricane forecasts rely on weather data that countries share through the UN's World Meteorological Organization. International flights follow safety rules agreed through the UN. And the ozone layer is recovering because a UN treaty phased out nearly 99 percent of the chemicals that were destroying it.
None of this makes headlines. All of it matters. And the UN can only do what its member states, including the United States, give it the means to do.
Where your support goes
Every registration and sponsorship goes back into our programs, and on race day you met the proof. Our volunteers Khutso and Lalash Segooa, sisters from Pretoria, South Africa, are former Summer Scholars. Khutso worked with UNDP in the Maldives as a junior economist. Lalash went to UNDP in Suriname to work on policy for Indigenous and tribal peoples.
Summer Scholars has sent 41 graduate students to UN agencies in 23 countries, most of them in the developing world. Our scholars pay nothing. UNA-NYC covers their airfare, housing and food for all three months abroad.
Our Worldview Institute, now in its 19th year, brings the UN to professionals right here in New York. Over ten evenings, each starting with dinner, a small group sits down with ambassadors, senior UN officials, authors and scholars for candid, off-the-record conversations, often inside the countries' own missions to the UN. Speakers have included UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous and, at last spring's graduation dinner, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. These are conversations most people never get to have.
That is our mission: bringing the UN to you.
Liz Philippe and some of the runners from UNFCU, our main sponsor for this year’s UN Day Race.
Now it's your turn
If you're not yet a member of UNA-NYC, join us. If you are, bring a friend along next time. Sign up for the Worldview Institute, which opens on February 10, 2027. And mark your calendar for next UN Day. We want this race to grow every year.
Join or renew your membership today, or support our programs here.
Thank you for showing up for the United Nations.
Ann Nicol
Executive Director