Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on Sept. 11, 2001, that Tuesday morning when our country came under attack, when four commercial airliners were hijacked and used to strike targets on the ground?

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.

If you’re a runner looking for a special way to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Great American Relay might interest you.

It piqued my curiosity when a caller phoned to let me know (a) it’s happening; (b) it has a local connection; and (c) her daughter has signed up to participate.

The relay will be coming through our area Sept. 20 with several legs of the journey in need of runners as part of an event to commemorate a dark day in the nation’s history while also raising money for “first responders and our military who continue to keep us safe every day.”

According to its website, the Great American Relay is a coast-to-coast running relay broken down into 415 stages across 18 states, including Ohio. It amounts to more than 3,500 miles covered in 38 days and passes the World Trade Center in New York City; the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; and a little closer to home, Shanksville, Pa., where because of the actions of the 40 passengers and crew aboard highjacked Flight 93, the attack on the U.S. Capitol was thwarted.

The relay begins in Boston on Sept. 11 at 8:46 a.m. — the time when terrorists crashed an American Airlines Boeing 767 into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City — and ends on Oct. 19 in Santa Monica, Calif.

Each day of the relay starts at 6 a.m., and each stage of it has a designated start and end time with a baton passed from lead runner to lead runner. Each stage has one lead runner who carries the baton and up to 10 support runners. You can sign up for a slot at www.greatamericanrelay.com and find out more specifics. There’s also a Facebook page.

On Sept. 20, runners will come from the Hanover Fire Department in Pennsylvania to the Steubenville Fire Department on North Street, an 11.9-mile run, 9-minute miles (6 a.m. to 7:59 a.m.).

From there, it’s:

≤ Stage 104, Steubenville Fire Department to Wintersville United Methodist Church, 5.2 miles, 9-minute miles, (7:59 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.);

≤ Stage 105, Wintersville United Methodist Church to Bloomingdale Fire Department, 7.9 miles, 9-minute miles, (8:45 a.m. to 9:56 a.m.);

≤ Stage 106, Bloomingdale Fire Department to Clifford Fire Station in Cadiz, 11.6 miles, 10-minute miles (9:56 a.m. to 11:52 a.m.); and

≤ Stage 107, Clifford Fire Station in Cadiz to Route 22 and Taggart Road (Moorefield), 11.7 miles, 10-minute miles (11:52 a.m. to 1:49 p.m.)

For those who can’t do the in-person run, there’s the 9/11 virtual run/walk — which appropriately is 9.11 miles anywhere.

All runners get a Great American Relay running singlet, and instead of medals, lead runners get red batons while support and virtual runners get green batons.

The website notes the “lead runner” is the point of contact for the stage and carries the baton. There can only be one lead runner.

The “support runners” join the lead runner, and there can be up to 10 of them.

“Virtual Runners” can join this stage and run anywhere in the world. There’s no limit to virtual runners.

At this writing, the local stages had a lead runner, but none in the support-runners slots. Any takers?