Sands Point Preserve • Sunday, September 20, 2026
The community came out to Sands Point Preserve for Helen’s 5K Run/Walk. A little rain, a lot of heart, and one shared mission: communication access and independence for people who are DeafBlind, blind, or have low vision. Every photo below includes a full image description.
Accessibility: these photos are meant to be read as well as seen. Every photo has alt text as well as a longer written description you can open right beneath it, and selecting a photo opens a larger view of the image. The sections follow the day in order, from check-in to the after party.
A gray, drizzly morning, a steady stream of walkers, runners, volunteers, and friends, and a registration room that filled up fast.
Participants walk in from the parking area along a wet sidewalk lined with parked cars and green hedges. At the center, a woman using a white cane holds the arm of a companion in a dark hooded sweatshirt as the group heads toward the event.
Three volunteers in navy Helen's 5K shirts stand behind a long folding table stacked with rows of folded royal blue event T-shirts. A handwritten sign reading T-Shirts is taped to the front of the table.
Participants talk together at the indoor registration area. A woman wearing race bib number 89 chats with two others near the check-in tables while more arrivals gather in the background.
A group of participants gathers near the entrance during check-in, including a man holding a white cane at the center of the group. A volunteer with a clipboard helps arrivals at the left.
Two smiling volunteers in navy Helen's 5K shirts stand beside a refreshments table holding wrapped raffle baskets, coffee boxes, and a colorful Helen's Run/Walk 5K sign reading Refreshments.
A crowd of participants fills the indoor staging area. Several people wear clear rain ponchos, one young woman in a colorfully decorated jacket holds a white cane, and a TV news camera on a tripod stands at the right.
A smiling participant in a gray flat cap, dark sunglasses, and purple Helen's 5K shirt holds his white cane near the refreshments table while two volunteers sign with each other behind him.
A ground-level view of a black guide dog in a fluorescent yellow harness, lying flat on the pavement for a rest between two pairs of sneakers.
Maricar Marquez, Supervisor of the Independent Living Department at HKNC and Helen's 5K 2026 Race Captain
Maricar Marquez, wearing a black cap, black jacket, and race bib number 119, signs with a companion inside the event space before the walk.
Maricar Marquez with her guide dog Cliff
Maricar Marquez and a companion pose for a photo while her black guide dog Cliff rests on the floor between them wearing a fluorescent yellow harness. Both women wear race bibs.
Maricar Marquez
Maricar Marquez smiles for a portrait wearing race bib number 119, with her black guide dog Cliff lying at her feet in a fluorescent yellow harness labeled Guide Dog.
Cliff, Maricar Marquez's guide dog
A close-up from above of Cliff, Maricar Marquez's black guide dog, wearing a fluorescent yellow harness labeled Guide Dog, with the leather harness handle in the foreground.
Maricar Marquez
Maricar Marquez signs while addressing the crowd, with an interpreter standing beside her and her black guide dog Cliff resting on the floor nearby.
Welcomes from leadership, a word from the town, and every speaker interpreted in ASL.
Sue Ruzenski, Chief Executive Officer, Helen Keller Services
Sue Ruzenski, Chief Executive Officer of Helen Keller Services, speaks into a microphone during the welcome, wearing a navy rain jacket, with a sign language interpreter interpreting at her right.
Larry Kinitsky, Chairman of the Board, Helen Keller Services, with Sue Ruzenski
Larry Kinitsky, Chairman of the Board of Helen Keller Services, wearing a white cap and navy jacket, speaks into a microphone with one hand raised while Sue Ruzenski stands to the left taking in the moment. A refreshments table and speaker stand frame the scene.
Larry Kinitsky
Larry Kinitsky, in a white Helen Keller Services cap and black jacket, speaks into a handheld microphone while a guest records on a phone in the foreground.
Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte, Town of North Hempstead
Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte of the Town of North Hempstead, wearing a navy sweater and blue jeans, speaks into a microphone while a sign language interpreter signs beside her.
A sign language interpreter in black clothing signs during the opening remarks, standing beside a large speaker on a stand.
The crowd takes in the opening remarks in the large indoor space, including a man in a purple event shirt holding a white cane, as a black guide dog rests on the floor and a videographer records from the center of the room.
Volunteers in navy shirts marked Volunteer gather in the foreground while the crowd of participants fills the large indoor event space behind them, lit by an open doorway.
A wide view of walkers and runners gathered shoulder to shoulder indoors before the start, with several participants using white canes throughout the crowd.
Out into the drizzle, past the castle, and away.
Walkers and runners gather at the outdoor start area on a paved path under overcast skies, wearing a mix of race bibs, ponchos, and event shirts, with trees in the background.
Walkers make their way toward the start line along the road past the stone castle, some in rain ponchos.
Participants line up across the paved course at the start as volunteers and spectators watch from the grass on either side. One runner at the far left holds a white cane.
At the start line: a man holding a white cane, teenagers, kids with bib numbers, and bib number 1730, one of the day's overall winners.
Runners take off from the start line, led by a young runner in a navy shirt in mid stride, passing a tall yellow Start banner with an ambulance and spectators along the right side of the course.
The walkers set out behind the runners, including children, families, and a participant in a clear rain poncho, with an ambulance and course volunteers along the road.
Out on the wet course, through the trees and into the mist.
A runner in a purple event shirt and another in shorts pass a wall of greenery out on the wet course.
The course disappears into the mist down a tree-lined road, a walker and a small white dog making their way through the quiet.
The red arch, the medals, and every kind of finish.
A runner in a white cap and shirt strides toward the red inflatable finish arch between rows of orange cones, with a race official in black at the left.
A young runner in a navy shirt and bib number 83 comes through the red finish arch past the taped-off chute.
A runner in an orange tank top and bib number 178 throws both arms in the air as she crosses under the finish arch.
A man in a purple event shirt and backwards cap, bib number 110, throws both arms up at the FINISH banner, phone in hand.
Two runners cross the finish together, one using a white cane and wearing bib number 22, his running partner beside him in bib number 13.
A woman in a purple event shirt and bib number 91, sunglasses on, strides toward the finish with her white cane leading the way.
Two women come to the finish arm in arm, bib numbers 89 and 2076, one in a pink dress using a white cane.
A walker in a colorful tie-dye hoodie, bib number 85, waves as she nears the finish, white cane in hand, with a companion beside her.
Two women in clear rain ponchos come through the finish holding hands, one carrying her white cane, smiling under the gray sky.
Four women come through the finish together, one in a pink rain poncho and three in purple event shirts, laughing as they go.
Maricar Marquez
Maricar Marquez and her support service provider cross under the red finish arch, hands together in tactile communication, the celebration tents behind them.
Gold Helen's 5K finisher medals hang in a row from navy ribbons on a display stand, ready for the finishers.
After the finish, the walk back up to the conference center, where the medals were waiting.
A participant using a white cane walks arm in arm with a sighted guide up the steps to the conference center after the race, while another walker in a clear poncho follows with trekking poles.
Maricar Marquez with Cliff
Maricar Marquez, wearing bib number 119 and walking with her guide dog Cliff, keeps hands together with her support service provider in tactile communication on the walk back to the conference center, as spectators cheer from a bench beside the wet path.
Cliff
Cliff, Maricar Marquez's black guide dog, leads the way up the wet path toward the conference center in his fluorescent yellow harness, leash running back to his handler.
Maricar Marquez with Sue Ruzenski
Maricar Marquez, bib number 119, gets high fives and her medal from Sue Ruzenski at the conference center, with another supporter joining the celebration.
Inside the conference center: food, friends, the Access Lab, live music, and the awards.
Sue Ruzenski
A News 12 reporter interviews Sue Ruzenski at the conference center entrance, with a broadcast camera set up on a tripod beside them.
Ashley Benton, Director of Field Services, HKNC
Ashley Benton, Director of Field Services at Helen Keller National Center, signs with a colleague outside the conference center entrance, finisher medals in hand and ready for the arriving walkers.
Musicians perform under a purple and pink Bach to Rock canopy on the lawn outside the conference center, speakers and microphones set up under the tent.
The conference center fills for the post-race celebration, with long tables of boxed lunches and snacks and a sign recognizing the post-race celebration sponsor.
Three team members sit behind the Access Lab table, spread with tactile games, magnifiers, and assistive gadgets for visitors to try, beneath a Helen Keller Services Access Lab sign.
Volunteers in navy shirts sign with attendees across a table of games and activities, while a man with a white cane and a walker passes in the foreground.
Three volunteers from Plant a Row for the Hungry pose arm in arm, two of them in oversized blueberry and tomato hats, beside a hand-painted barrel.
Young volunteers in purple shirts add color to the hand-drawn Plant a Row barrel design at the art table during the celebration.
A man wearing dark glasses, a purple event shirt, and bib number 180 makes his way through the celebration with his white cane, alongside a friend wearing a finisher medal.
The after party in full swing, with participants in purple shirts, finisher medals, white canes, and rain ponchos filling the conference center.
The two overall winners pose with their medals in the conference center, wearing bib numbers 1730 and 68, while a volunteer in a tomato hat sneaks into the background.
An HKNC participant wearing bib number 77 stands in front of the hand-lettered winners board holding one of the awards he won as staff and guests applaud around the room.
Sue Ruzenski
At the hand-lettered Helen's Run/Walk winners board, an HKNC staff member interpreting signs with an arm raised in celebration while Sue Ruzenski applauds behind the awards table, the board listing divisions including Overall, Veteran, Blind, Low Vision, DeafBlind, and 13 and Under.
Sue Ruzenski
Sue Ruzenski holds the microphone beside a framed black-and-white artwork on the awards table while an HKNC staff member interprets at the left.