Looking for motivation to get out there walking, running, or biking? Challenge yourself to walk, run, and/or bike 1,300 miles, the length of the entire September 11th National Memorial Trail.
Register for the free challenge and follow along on our tracker, which points out some of the sights you’ll pass with links for more information and photos. Notify us as your mileage brings you to each of the 9/11 memorial sites and we’ll send commemorative swag.
You'll begin at the austere, two-acre September 11th Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. From here you’ll head northwest, beginning a clockwise tour of the roughly triangle-shaped September 11th National Memorial Trail. The multi-use route connects the three national September 11th memorial sites: the Pentagon; the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and the museum and reflecting pools at the World Trade Center in New York City. In between you’ll pass the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields. You’ll travel along beautiful canal paths and urban greenways. In Pennsylvania you’ll count hundreds of rural miles and climb some foothills. On the last of three legs, you’ll check off major cities: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and your finish in Washington, DC.
How it works
- Recruit your spouse and/or your kids, your neighbors and friends with social distancing, or go it alone, committing to covering 1,300 miles.
- Sign up here — it's quick and easy.
- Bike, run, or walk anywhere, any time, and log your miles however you prefer to — on your phone, on paper, etc.
- Download the trail tracker to keep track of where you are on the 9/11 Trail based on your mileage. Click the links to learn about featured sites that you are passing; click the photo links to enjoy some sights.
- We'll send you a welcome email and encourage you to let us know when you complete each of the three legs, reaching one of the September 11 Memorial sites, and we'll send you free commemorative swag.
- Share your miles on Facebook and Instagram. Tag us in your photos as you travel (even if it's just on your treadmill). Use the hashtag #911trailchallenge so we can share your posts.
About the tracker
Bicycle tourists Eric Brenner and Wayne Clark created the virtual tour tracker, documenting the miles and featured sights after they biked the entire 9/11 Trail in 2018. Brenner serves on the board of the nonprofit September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance and Clark serves on its advisory board.