Another year, another successful Lincoln Tunnel Challenge 5K (LTC 5K)! 2025 marks the 39th year of this exclusive event which featured:
- Over 2200 participants
- 5K distance (3.1 miles)
- Almost $190,000 raised
The USATF certified LTC 5K is an out and back course covering two states (NJ and NY), runs mostly underwater, and does not require participants to carry their E-ZPass tags!
Before any running started, Mind Over Matter Fitness led a vigorous and fun warm-up at the NJ Transit Weehawken bus park. Then the first wave of runners, committed to finishing the 5K in under 30 minutes, lined up just outside the tunnel. Once this race was completed, another engaging warmup was held, and finally, the second wave of runners, and walkers, lined up for their turn. The fastest runners completed the trip through the tunnel to Manhattan and back to Weehawken in very impressive times: 17:42 and 20:18 minutes for the fastest man and woman, respectively.
The Cool Schools Challenge is an inclusive program established to have Unified Champion Schools (UCS) participate in the Lincoln Tunnel Challenge 5K while raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics New Jersey. A portion of the money raised by the schools is returned as part of a revenue share to fund future UCS programming. We had 7 schools participate and raise $7,000 for Special Olympics New Jersey! Congratulations to Secaucus Public Schools for raising over $3,000!
File under something you don’t see every day: The FIFA World Cup 26 New York New Jersey Host Committee was represented by soccer freestylers Frankie Flo, Gabriel Luzbet, and Nick Seyda. They brought their soccer balls, and now can proudly call themselves the first-ever athletes to juggle a soccer ball through the tunnel alongside 2,000+ participants.
A huge thank you to the sponsors, without whom this event would be impossible to run! All proceeds benefit Special Olympics New Jersey. On top of providing training and competition opportunities in 22 sports, SONJ offers health, wellness, athlete leadership and Unified program initiatives to thousands of athletes across the state – all completely free of charge!
