Frequently Asked Questions

Friday, January 31

The week of February 10

No, only electronic applications will be considered.

Yes, the program/project to be funded must relate to hunger, homelessness, or the healthy development of at-risk youth and families, and it must be a new initiative or one that substantially improves or expands an existing program.

No, only the application and the required attachments — program/project-specific itemized budget and your organization’s 501(c)(3) federal tax exemption letter of determination — should be submitted.

Please see the sample provided here.

Funding generally averages $10,000 to $20,000. Additionally, there are also intrinsic PR benefits, including exposure to 9,000+ potential donors (runners/walkers), race-day recognition, on-air interviews, and social media and website mentions, to name a few.

No, only nonprofit organizations located or providing services in the following counties can apply: Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Greene, Columbia, Schoharie, Montgomery, Warren, Washington, or Fulton.

Funding is generally NOT provided for capital or annual campaigns, staff salaries, fundraising events, or general operating expenses.

You must agree to participate in race-related media opportunities and at least two race committee meetings, provide 10 or more volunteers on race day, and publicly recognize Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club (HMRRC) and CDPHP for their support (e.g., through a press release, newsletter article, website mention, etc.).

You must provide an impact statement — within a year of receiving charity of choice funds — detailing how the program/project made a difference for your clients.

Contact the charity of choice committee by emailing admin@hmrrc.com.

We recommend that participants, volunteers and others use the East Parking garage at the corner of Madison and Eagle, which can also be reached when going east under the Plaza. Parking in this garage is free to the public starting at 3:00 p.m. daily. Alternatively, parking in the North Lot under the plaza is available at any time for $5.00 per day.  Photo ID is required to enter the North Lot. The Cathedral and Madison Visitor’s lot are closed to the public on race day. Please follow this link to see a map of the parking options,https://its.ny.gov/visitor-parking-and-around-empire-state-plaza.

We are sorry, but as the form you completed when you registered stated, we are not able to refund registration fees due to fixed expenses we incur when you register. Beginning on May 14th, we do allow your team captain to transfer your entry to another member of your organization. Please ask your team captain to follow this link for instructions on how to go about completing a transfer.

Thanks for the question. Actually it is quite costly to put on a race of this size. Some of our most substantial cost include t-shirts, post-race refreshments, water, security and medical support, registration services, timing services, bibs, awards, advertising, rentals, banners and signs, bands along the course, etc. As you can see there is a lot that goes into a race such as this. Incidentally, the entire race committee, including the race director are all volunteers. We hope that with this understanding, you will chose to register along with others from your organization and will enjoy participating in the race.

A team of one is perfectly acceptable! To qualify for scoring, however, you will need a minimum of four participants (four females or four males, or two males and two females for a coed team).

There is no cost for the initial set-up of your team on our registration site. The registration fee for each individual participant on your team is $25.00.

Please verify that your company has not previously registered a team by clicking here.

If your company did not participate in the Workforce Team Challenge last year, please follow the steps below to create your team:

1. Go to the team management portal and click on the green Create Team button.
2. Make note of the four-digit team captain code that appears in the blue box. You will need to use this code whenever you log in to the team management portal.
3. Complete the form below the blue box and be sure to click Save Company Information once all fields have been completed.

Once you complete these steps, your team will be activated, and you (if you will be participating) and your teammates will be able to register by going to the online registration page.

If you have any trouble please e-mail reg@cdphpwtc.com.

Please either reach out to your team captain to confirm your entry or check your registration status by clicking here and entering your confirmation code. Alternatively, you can e-mail reg@cdphpwtc.com.

No. A team is defined as ALL the persons from your company who are participating in the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge, so only one team and one team captain are allowed per organization. You may, however, submit an unlimited number of four-person teams (four females or four males, or two males and two females for a coed team) for scoring purposes.

We’re sorry, but this event is limited to employees of an organization or company. Family members are welcome to volunteer, though.

Thank you! We are always in need of more volunteers to hand out water on the course, serve as course marshals, distribute t-shirts, staff the medical tent and distribute post-race refreshments, among other tasks. Please contact Mark Warner at volunteer@cdphpwtc.com for more information.

Thanks! We are always looking for more volunteers. Please contact the volunteer coordinators at volunteer@cdphp.com. People from your company will be assigned to one volunteer post. Possibilities might include passing out water at the finish line or at one of the mid-race water stops, working together as course marshals, or handing out refreshments.

The Participant Release form and the safety information are reviewed by each participant as part of the registration process. Individuals must check a box agreeing to these items before they can proceed with registration. Since participants must read those documents at that stage, the information does not appear on the event’s website.

We must receive confirmation from the Albany Police Department (APD) before we can post a notice of parking restrictions. Although we don’t anticipate substantial changes from last year, it will likely be early May before this information is finalized.

No, you are not required to use the race logo on your T-shirt. However, your shirt would not then qualify for consideration in the category of Best Use of the CDPHP^® Workforce Team Challenge Logo or Name. Your T-shirt would be eligible for consideration in the other categories: Most Colorful, Most Creative, Most Corporate, Most Humorous, and Most Inspirational. Please be sure to indicate under which category you would like your t-shirt judged when you submit it.

All the bibs (race numbers) for your company’s team will be included in a single packet. Your team captain will be able to pick up your team’s packet based on the published schedule.

Unfortunately, no. For security reasons, backpacks will not be allowed on the course.

Because a personal water system is similar in appearance to a backpack, we do not allow them to be worn on the course, The New York State Police are at all of the entry points to the course and will turn back individuals trying to enter the course with backpacks. Although a Camelbak may not technically be a backpack, we don’t want to put the NYSP in the position of trying to distinguish what is what or our runners and walkers in the position of being turned back from the start. There is a pre-race water spot on the Plaza, two water stops on the course, water at the finish and then water with the refreshments. Plastic water bottles are also allowed on the course.

Unfortunately, no. To ensure the safety of race participants, neither baby strollers nor children younger than 16 years of age are allowed on the course.

Sorry, but no pets are allowed on the course. Only service dogs are permitted.

Yes! The results at the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge are based on two times: a gun time and a net, or chip, time. Your gun time is recorded from the moment the starting gun or horn sounds to when you cross the finish line. The net (chip) time accounts for any time you may have lost at the start of the race: it is recorded from the time you cross the starting line to when you cross the finish line.

Unfortunately, you are not permitted to bring your own table, booth, or tent onto the Plaza. It is wise, though, to identify a central meeting location for your team, and we do allow teams to display a team banner at your chosen location. If however, you would like to have a tent on the Plaza, please consider becoming a corporate sponsor. We provide tents for our corporate sponsors together with publicity of your company’s support and many other amenities. Here is the link to the details of a corporate sponsorship: http://www.cdphpwtc.com/sponsorship.htm.

Before the race, there will be water on the Plaza, near Agency Building 1. During the race, there will be two water stops on the course, as well as at the finish line. After the race, we provide bottled water with the refreshments.

Yes. Information about the T-shirt contest is provided in the Event Info section of the race website.

Yes! You may submit both the front and the back of the T-shirt as your entry in the T-shirt competition, if you choose.

Yes. Team members must be at least 16 years of age on race day, as well as employees of the company/organization whose team they’re on.

Our T-Shirt Coordinators arrive around 2:00 p.m. on race day. Participants may begin picking up their shirts at 3:00 p.m., but not before. The distribution of race T-shirts is separate from that of race packets.

Our refreshment bags typically contain snacks like granola bars, pretzels or cookies, and fruit.

A contribution of any amount—to the extent that your means allow—would be most appreciated! We just ask that you give something, especially considering that, if every participant and volunteer contributed even $1 to each of the charities of choice, we would raise more than $20,000 and make a significant positive impact on our community!

Thank you for your great question! Yes, we are able to identify the individuals who have donated and the amount they donated. Please email our registration team at reg@cdphpwtc.com to request documentation of your donation any time after the race has been run.

Your team can participate in this event. The only drawback is that you won’t be considered in the team scoring for team awards since scoring teams are made up of four males, four females, or two of each. Your individual times will still be recorded and you and your teammates will be able to enjoy all the other amenities of the race.