American Legion Freedom Run

5K race on the Eureka Trail in Athens, TN   

Eureka Trail located at 1400 E Madison Avenue Athens TN 37303

Following a former railroad bed, the gravel trail winds for 6 miles southeast through woodlands, rural landscapes, and the community of Mashburn. Meandering through the outskirts of Englewood, the trail heads into downtown Englewood. The trail's name comes from the Eureka Hosiery Mill, which was located near the Englewood trailhead.

From downtown Athens - from Green Street turn into Eastanalee Ave (TN Hwy 307). Go 1.4 miles. Parking is on the left. 

From Exit 52 (Athens/Mt Verd) onto TN Hwy 305 S towards Athens - go 3.2 miles - turn left onto Tellico Avenue (CR 378) go 1.2 miles. Turn right onto CR 307. Go .4 miles. Parking lot is on the right - Eureka Trailhead 1400 Madison Avenue Athens, TN

The Eureka Trail is a crushed stone trail that follows an old railroad bed-similar to the Virginia Creeper trail.

Parking Eureka Trailhead parking area between Adient &
E&E Manufacturing

Race starts at 9 AM

Packet Pickup Day of Race  7:30 to 8:45  AM

Proceeds support the projects of American Legion Post #68 in Athens, TN: Children's Patriotism Education, Assistance To Veterans in Need, Sponsor July 4th Community Celebration, and other Veteran's Programs. 

Participants will be assigned a unique personal url when they register. The participant can encourage their friends to use this url when they register for this event. The system will maintain a count of the number of registrations for each url. When five participants have registered using a participant's personal url, the participant with that url will receive a retroactive refund of $5 to the credit card that they used for registration.

This event offers a virtual component. Participants in this event will be able to run or walk the 5K distance (3.1 miles) on the course that they choose anytime between April 25 and midnite May 10. Participants will have access to the RaceJoy application which will allow them to use this phone application to monitor their distance and time on the course. The application will also allow them to upload their time to the virtual results page on RunSignup. Virtual participants are not eligible for awards.

Participants will be able to post their individual results either using the RaceJoy application or manually beginning at 12:00 AM on April 25, 2026 and ending at 11:59 PM on May 100, 2026.

Manual results may be posted as follows:                                                                                                                      

Visit the American Legion Race registration page and confirm that you are logged in
Locate the "Results" tab at the top of the menu
Click the "Submit Virtual Results" button
Search for your registration either by first and last name or by email address and date of birth 
Once you have found your registration, select "Submit Virtual Results" and enter your finish time

RaceJoy utilization is included as part of the registration fee. The RaceJoy application utilizes your smart phone's GPS capability to record distance and time. Instructions for RaceJoy utilization for virtual events are as follows:

Get the App: Download RaceJoy from the App Store or Google Play.
Find Race: Click Featured Races to access the event you are doing or search by name in the search field.
Set Up Tracking: Click I Want to Be Tracked and follow the prompts carefully. Select the course(s) you plan to complete.
Enter Your Bib Number for Results: For events offering virtual scored results, enter your bib number provided to you by the race. RaceJoy will then automatically submit your finish data.
When you run or walk your course, open the RaceJoy application and follow the prompts to adjust settings as needed. WiFi must be disabled on your phone.
When you start: Click TRACK ME: Make sure to click the green blinking TrackMe button to start the tracking of your phone. Select the course you are signed up to run. Click START MY RACE as you begin your walk/run to start your personal clock. RaceJoy auto detects when you complete the course distance. No need to click Finish.
Race Redo for Virtual Events: You have the option to redo a course multiple times by clicking the redo button. (warning: selecting the redo button will clear previous performance data.)