In 2009 Lt Col. Mike McErlain, with his wife Jo, set up the D-Day 44 Challenge. Sadly, Mike died while doing the run on 6 June 2013, but with Jo’s blessing the event returned in 2018 to raise money for Blesma the Limbless Veterans, Blind Veterans UK and Combat Stress and is all set to go again for 2019…
The D-Day 44 Challenge comprises of 2 fantastic route options, 22 miles or 44 miles. Both routes take you on a fantastic course through corn, wheat and barley fields as you head down the Normandy coastline over sand dunes, through marsh land and pebble beaches. You will follow forgotten paths and rocky outcrops and beautiful Norman villages.
These are all set alive during this first week of June with people from all over the world driving WWII vehicles and some even wear old WWII uniforms. Amongst these people are hundreds of war veterans, some of whom lived through D-Day and proudly wear their medals and tell their amazing stories.
The D-Day 44 Challenge commemorates the 1944 Allied invasion of occupied France. For those who are passionate about adventure and sporting challenges, the D-Day 44 Challenge offers the perfect opportunity to indulge these passions. The walk/run allows you to appreciate fully the sacrifices made by our forefathers as well as current servicemen who have bravely fought to protect our way of life.
44 miles is a tough ultra run and 22 miles is a challenging distance to walk, so for this reason there will be cut off times put in place throughout the course. These times will be communicated in pre-event information which will be emailed out to all participants.
