A two day, 100 mile ultra trail has been created to honor the 70^th anniversary of D Day.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, and to pay tribute to the seven countries that took part, athletes and soldiers from each country will run over a route between Utah Beach (Manche) and Caen (Calvados) and stop through 14 ‘checkpoints,’ located at places of high historical value, to honor the past. The main five stretches are Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach.

The D Day Trail is intended to celebrate a significant historical event and not to render individual competition. The race will gather seven soldiers and seven athletes who will start and finish the trail together, hand in hand.

The 14 athletes will land from the sea on Utah Beach on tomorrow and reach Bayeux by the end of the day, marching through the city holding torchlights. Finally, they will join 3,000 children of “Les Foulées de la Liberté” to complete the last kilometers of the ‘Ultra D Day Trail’ up to the Caen Memorial.

A soldier and athlete will run from each of the seven countries involved –  Hannah Roberts and Douglas Long of the USA, Bertrand Collomb-Patton and Alvine Gentilhomme of France, Janick Delva and Fabrice Etienne of Belgium, Kate Dawson-Desmurs and Shaun Lamb of Great Britain, Jason Loutitt and Bruce Barteaux of Canada, Philipp Reiter and Thomas Bohne of Germany, and Natalia Scott and Tadeusz Ruta of Poland.

When people decide to get together and unite for a common cause they can produce remarkable results. Events like this one are commendable to say the least: we salute everyone taking part, and honoring the memory of those who lost their lives 70 years ago.

You can read more about the Ultra D Day Trail on the official website.