Join a team and pull a plane for Special Olympics on Sept. 7!

You may not know it, but you can pull a plane.

The 2024 Special Olympics Minnesota Plane Pull is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 7 this year, and you’re encouraged to join a team or attend the event and cheer on participants.

Special Olympics Minnesota organizes the Plane Pull fundraiser, held on the west side of the MSP Airport airfield, with key support from the MSP Airport Police Department. The event draws a festive crowd of hundreds and provides a fun, relaxed atmosphere with friends and colleagues as the fan base. Two food trucks — Tipsy Pies and a BBQ specialty — are booked this year, and a DJ will be live on-site as well.

Each Plane Pull team can have up to eight members, and years of evidence show you don’t need to be a weightlifter, rugby player or superhero to move an airplane. Special Olympics Minnesota asks that each team raise a minimum of $1,000 to participate. The funds support Special Olympics Minnesota programs for people with intellectual disabilities. Find full information on the Plane Pull on Special Olympics Minnesota’s website.

One new option this year: if you don’t have a team of eight, the MAC will work to line you up with plane-pulling co-workers. Sign up here and we’ll aim to place you on a team with seven others to get some airplane-inspired exercise on Sept. 7.

Teams are timed as they pull an Embraer 175 airplane 25 feet, times are recorded and displayed, and the winners in each division win bragging rights for a year. There are four divisions of teams, and each division is grouped within its own window of time on that Saturday, so you can expect to spend about two hours at the Plane Pull – not the whole day.

For a better idea of what it’s all about, here’s a WCCO-TV story on the Special Olympics Plane Pull from last year.

The plane pull has withstood the test of time at MSP Airport, as it was first held here in 2014. The pandemic led to a two-year hiatus and 2024’s event will be #9.

Come and join the fun on Sept. 7!