Pony Express 1900 Mile Challenge

This is an honor based mileage challenge.  Ride, walk, run, bike or hike (or carriage drive) to reach your 1900 miles.  There is no set time limit, though we have enrollment open through 2027.  You may log your miles online with us, or you in a notebook or app.  We have an honor based system. We do NOT count daily steps.  This has to be on purpose, set aside time to COVER MILES.   Walk a mile a day if you wish, or combine all the miles of riding and walking/running/biking hiking.  This challenge was created to provide encouragement and support for on purpose, forward movement under either your own muscle power or your horses- or with your K9 best friend running along with you! 

There is a $65.00 entry fee for this multi year event that includes a limited edition PONY EXPRESS 1900 Mile Patch, limited edition PONY EXPRESS 1900 Mile sticker,  a commemorative lapel pin and the completion medal for participants in the USA is also a belt buckle! (sorry, we cannot ship buckles overseas unless you pay additional shipping).  The buckle/medal is the same medal quality as the medals in the 100 Mile Challenges.   Also, it maybe most valuable assets is the amazing online community via a friendly, supportive and well motivated facebook group, as well as the tracking system on Run Sign Up to see how far down the trail you have gone!  This may be the longest virtual attempted to date for the horse world!  In addition, $5.00 of the entry fees  will be donated to the National Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph Museum by WARHORSE Endurance.  As I attempted to gather information on this route, it became so evident to me that unless some one has the clear mission to preserve this unique piece of history, it truly could fade into dust, as I have found, so much of it has!  

Price increase January 1, 2021 to $65.00.  

THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR Challenge, you have as long as you need to complete it. 

ON THE RESULTS PAGE- IF YOU CLICK ON YOUR NAME THE MAP OF THE PONY EXPRESS ROUTE WILL APPEAR AND SHOW YOU YOUR PROGRESS!

ONLY the 500 participants who signed up for this event before DECEMBER 31, 2020 will have their name on a plaque that will be displayed in the Pony Express Museum the following year!   This event is backdated to April 12th, 2020, the beginning of our WARHORSE Challenges!  This is so you can track all the miles from the first challenges of 2020.    Not all stations were always used, some were used only when a river washed out and many locations were controversial, as the buildings were wooden and burned down a lot time ago.  The spirit of the ride is to follow the route by tracking your mileage from each ride.  It will add up quickly over time and you will be able to see your progress on the map.   The long term tech support needed for this Challenge is the reasoning behind the higher cost.  We hope to see this grow the spirit of the challenges and YES you can use more than one horse for this challenge!   Pony Express riders often changed horses every 8 to 10 miles.   I hope this Challenge is inspirational to those who take it on!

The Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, MO is the starting point on the map, you will see a small WARHORSE Endurance icon at the start, the end of the trail is the Pony Express Statue in Sacramento, CA.  Now, we realize there were more stops after Sacramento, though we choose this statue as the end point.  *NOTE* This route is not making any claims of being historically perfect, and many of the stops are an approximate location.  Life is truly a journey, ENJOY THE RIDE!

The Pony Express Route ran from St. Joseph, Missouri, to the Pony Express Memorial in California. With over 100 stops along the 1,900 mile route.  Tentatively I have this race open until 2027 you could complete it in 7 years, at just 271 miles per year!  If you are going to riding anyway, you might as well be a part of our virtual party!  Maybe make this route a part of tracking your miles with your equine best friend or on your own two feet!