THE ULTIMATE MEMORIAL RUN

250 KM, 7 STAGES, 3 COUNTRIES

FROM THE D-DAY BEACHES VIA THE ARDENNES TO ARNHEM.
11-18 JUNE, 2023 & 9-16 JUNE, 2024

LEST WE FORGET

Your running adventure of a lifetime and sporting challenge! The Liberation Trail is a multistage ultra running event. From the D-day beaches in Normandy in a prologue + 6 stages, via Bastogne in the Ardennes to the John Frost Bridge in Arnhem. Following the original route of the liberators on the beaches, paths and through the forests where there was severe fighting during World War II.

Also a tribute to the men, boys who fought for our freedom in 1944 and 1945. ‘Lest we forget’ where our freedom comes from. And to prevent this memory from disappearing after the last veterans die.

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https://liberationtrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Liberation_trail_Bleu_memorial.png
https://liberationtrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/liberation_trail_about_img2.png

LEST WE FORGET

Your running adventure of a lifetime and sporting challenge! The Liberation Trail is a multistage ultra running event. From the D-day beaches in Normandy in a prologue + 6 stages, via Bastogne in the Ardennes to the John Frost Bridge in Arnhem. Following the original route of the liberators on the beaches, paths and through the forests where there was severe fighting during World War II.

https://liberationtrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Liberation_trail_Bleu_memorial.png

Also a tribute to the men, boys who fought for our freedom in 1944 and 1945. ‘Lest we forget’ where our freedom comes from. And to prevent this memory from disappearing after the last veterans die.

REGISTER 2024
GET MORE INFORMATION
https://liberationtrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/liberation_trail_about_img2.png

WHAT DO YOU NEED? MANDATORY KIT LIST

  • Trailrunning shoes

  • Running backpack

  • Waterproof rain jacket

  • Warm clothing

  • Headlamp with spare batteries

  • Plate, cutlery and cup for breakfast and dinner

  • Cup to take drinks during the stages

  • 1.5 litres water in backpack

  • Emergency kit and spare clothes

  • GPS watch or handheld

  • Mobile telephone

  • Sleeping bag and pillow

  • Passport

COUNT ME IN!

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WHAT DO YOU GET FOR THE € 1.500 PARTICIPATION FEE?

  • Sleeping in an army tent

  • Transfers between stages

  • Breakfast (7x) and diner (7x)

  • Aid stations with drinks & food; also possible to hand off your own drop bags

  • Duffle bag with your name

  • Luggage transport

  • Medical team ready

  • GPS live tracker

  • Spectacular start

DUFFLE BAG WITH YOUR NAME

PROLOGUE + 6 STAGES, 3 COUNTRIES

Passes through iconic battlefields.

Travel to
start location in
Normandy
Race-briefing

SUN 11/6'23

Visits to
several
impressive
memorials

Prologue

MON 12/6’23

±49 KM

Omaha Beach →
Gold beach →
Juno beach →
Sword beach →
Hermanville-sur-Mer

TUE 13/6’23

±45 KM

Pegasus Bridge →
Caen →
May-Sur-Orne →
Thury-Harcourt

WED 14/6’23

±15KM

Trois-Ponts
‘Out and back’

THU 15/6’23

±29 KM

Trois-Ponts →
Coo →
La Gleize →
Stoumont →
Nonceveux

FRI 16/6’23

±81 KM

Eindhoven →
Grave Bridge →
Groesbeek →
Berg en Dal

SAT 17/6’23

±44 KM

Ginkel →
Heath →
Oosterbeek →
Arnhem Bridge

SUN 18/6’23

Liberation Day ;)

Enjoying your
achievement
on the couch

MON 19/6’23

GREAT THAT YOU PARTICIPATE!

Experience the Liberation Trail as participant or supporters. Choose the way that suits you. But in whatever way you participate; Liberation Trail will always stay with you!

COUNT ME IN

Participant fee: € 1.500 - Supporter fee: € 500

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LOCATIONS

The Liberation Trail has the same concept as for example the Tour de France. We will finish each stage at a different location then we start that same stage. In other words, we have stages from A to B.
Most of the time we will finish at the camp site or nearby the camp site. In this way we limit the transportation time after the finish. Sometimes we will have a transportation in army vehicles from the camp site to the start of the next stage.

Exact locations will be announced later, when we are able to travel again to do an inspection.

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STAGES

The Liberation Trail consists of a prologue and six consecutive stages:

  • Monday 12th of June: Prologue
  • Tuesday 13th of June: ±49km in Normandy, France (80% trail)
  • Wednesday 14th of June: ±45km in France (30% trail)
  • Thursday 15th of June: ±15km in the Ardennes (95% trail) – Night Trail
  • Friday 16th of June: ±29km in the Ardennes (95% trail)
  • Saturday 17th of June: ±81km in the Netherlands (70% trail)
  • Sunday 18th of June: ±44km, around Arnhem in the Netherlands (95% trail)

More details about the stages will be announced later.

We only have a time limit for the stage of ±81km: 14 hours. For the other stages there is no time limit, because we run from the start to the next camp site. So, no transport is needed from the finish to the camp site.

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CAMPSITES

We will use camp sites including showers and toilets. The showers can also be used for changing. The army tents are mixed. We will provide you with a bed in the army tent. You have to bring your own sleeping bag and pillow. We will transport your sleeping bag, pillow and other personal stuff to the next camping site.

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RACE & ROAD RULES

The Liberation Trail is mainly a memorial run. A tribute to the men, boys who fought for our freedom in 1944 and 1945. ‘Lest we forget’ where our freedom comes from.

The general trail rules are applicable. The main rule is that you help a fellow participant when she/he needs help.
Although it’s mainly a memorial run, we still make up a result list after each stage. And we will have it published on DUV-statistik.

A simple rule about the road rules : You are during each stage a normal road user and must obey the traffic rules.
We won’t block roads for our trails.

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YOUR TRANSPORT TO NORMANDY

You have to arrange your own transport to the start in Normandy, France.
We offer an extra service for participants from the Utrecht in the Netherlands and Antwerp in Belgium to start location in Normandy. This extra bus ticket of € 75 can be booked at the subscription.

You also have to arrange your own transport from the finish in Arnhem in the Netherlands back home.

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FOOD

Breakfast and diner are included.

When booking you can choose the next food preferences:

  • No restrictions
  • Vegan

You have to provide your own food during the stages. Every participant can hand in a small bag with their personal food and drinks for each aid station on the course of that day. As an organization we only provide water at these food stations. The number of aid stations depends on the length of the stage:

    • Prologue: no aid station
    • ±49 KM: at least 2 aid stations
    • ±45 KM: at least 2 aid stations
    • ±15 KM: at least 1 aid station
    • ±29 KM: at least 1 aid station
    • ±81 KM: at least 4 aid stations
    • ±44 KM: at least 2 aid stations

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KIT LIST

The mandatory kit list for the Liberation Trail consist of:

  • Closed trail running shoes with plenty of grip on the sole
  • Running backpack
  • Waterproof rain jacket
  • Warm clothing (top and trousers / running tights) as an insulating layer between the outer clothing and the skin
  • Working headlamp with spare batteries (only needed when starting in the dark and the 100 KM stage)
  • Plate, cutlery and cup for breakfast and dinner
  • Cup to take drinks at the refreshment stations
  • Water container or soft flasks with accumulating volume of at least 1.5 litres.
  • Emergency kit (1x compress 10x10cm, 2x bandages, 2x gloves, 1x triangular bandage, 4x plasters, emergency whistle, blister plasters, survival blanket)
  • Navigation watch loaded with the GPS track of the course you are running or, alternatively, a self printed route map or map stored on a mobile device.
  • Mobile telephone with emergency telephone number saved into the phone in order to make emergency calls and inform the race organisers if you have to pull out of the race before reaching the finish (mobile phone must work abroad)
  • Sleeping bag & pillow
  • Passport
  • Spare clothes for the five stages

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SUPPORTERS

Your supporter can also be part of the Liberation Trail family. The supporter fee is € 500 and this is included:

  • Bed in one of the army tents (bring you own sleeping bag an pillow) for seven nights (11-18 June)
  • Breakfast and diner together with the participants, starting with diner at the 11th of June and ending with dinner at 18th of June
  • Tourist taxes

If your supporter doesn’t have a car to move to the next camp site, your supporters is more then welcome to drive with our crew to the next camp site via several checkpoints on the course.

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Get more information

Request more information about the Liberation Trail. Leave your e-mail address below and we’ll send your more details about the Liberation Trail.

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MEMORIALS

The Liberation Trail is no race. We take the time at the start, during and after the finish of each stage to remember the where our freedom comes from.  Lest we forget.

We also provide you with some memorial attributes like a poppy and/or memorial ribbon which you can put down at a memorial site.

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FLEXIBILITY

As organizers we are flexible to give you the memorial trail experience of your live: Everything is allowed. Running, walking/hiking. Whole distance and half distance. A day back to half distance, skipping a day. Even dogs are allowed. And also participating in relay is possible.

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PARTNERS

Our partners are:

  • 2seconds – Your creative crew
  • WE-link – an organisation and consultancy agency in the field of sports events
  • Geo Tracks Benelux – GPS Live Tracking for sport events like trail runs. Increasing the safety of the participants and increasing the experience of the participants and their supporters at home
  • MudSweatTrails – the trail running platform of the Netherlands and Belgium
  • FysioHuis – Our medical partners
  • Forever Running – We make running shirts with bold, graphic designs. Design and production manually in our own workshop and workshop. Craftsmanship in textiles and design.
  • TrailRunStore – Largest range of trail products. Order at the #1 trail running specialty store in NL & BE.
  • TrailRunning – The website for every trail runner

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FINANCIAL POLICY

Payment schedule of the total participation fee (€ 1.500) or supporter fee (€ 500):

  • € 150 (participant) and € 50 (supporter) at subscription
  • An extra € 350 (participant) and € 100 (supporter) before the 18th of February
  • An extra € 500 (participant) and € 200 (supporter) before the 18th of March
  • The final € 500 (participant) and € 150 (supporter) before the 18th of April
  • Of course, you can pay your fee in one go

If a participant or supporter wants to cancel their participation, this is the policy we handle:

  • Cancelling up to and including 10th of April. You must pay 25% of the total participation fee (€ 1.500) or supporter fee (€ 500). We will refund your paid fee by minus this 25%. So, if you paid € 1.000 as a participant when you decide to cancel, your refund will be € 1.000 minus 25% of € 1.500. So, € 625 will be your refund based on this calculation: € 1.000 -/- (25% of € 1.500 = € 375). Of course, you can also try to transfer for your participation or supporter ticket to someone else without extra costs involved. This is the most cost-effective option.
  • From the 11th of April you can only transfer your ticket to someone else and you are obliged to pay the full participation or supporter fee.

Shifting the date of the event by the organisation in case of force majeure (like Covid-19 measures). You have two options:

  • Shifting your participation to the new date without any extra costs. This is the most cost-effective option.
  • A refund of the paid fee by you minus a percentage of the total participation fee (€1.500) or supporter
    fee (€ 500) in accordance with this scheme:

    • Announcement of the shifting up to and including 11th of April 2023 (2 months before the
      original start of the event): Paid fee minus 25% of the total participation or supporter fee. So, if you paid € 1.000 as a participant when the shift is announced, your refund will be € 1.000 minus 25% of € 1.500. So, € 625 will be your refund based on this calculation: € 1.000
      -/- (25% of € 1.500 = € 375).
    • Announcement of the shifting from 11th of April 2023 up to and including 10th
      of May (1 month before the original start of the event): Paid fee minus 40% of the total
      participation or supporter fee.       So, if you paid € 500 as a supporter when the shift is
      announced, your refund will be € 500 minus 40% of € 500. So, € 300 will be your refund based on this calculation: € 500 -/- (40% of € 500 = € 200).
    • Announcement of the shifting from 11th of May 2023 up to and including 3rd of
      June (1 week before the original start of the event): Paid fee minus 50% of the total participation or supporter fee. So, if you paid € 1.500 as a participant when the shift is announced, your refund will be € 1.000 minus 50% of € 1.500. So, € 750 will be your refund based on this calculation: € 1.500 -/- (50% of € 1.500 = € 750).
    • Announcement of the shifting from 4th of June 2023 up to and including 8th of
      June (2 days before the original start of the event): Paid fee minus 80% of the total participation or supporter fee. So, if you paid € 1.500 as a participant when the shift is announced, your refund will be € 1.000 minus 80% of € 1.500. So, € 300 will be your refund based on this calculation: € 1.500 -/- (80% of € 1.500 = € 1.200). In this last case the force majeure will be for example a big storm, a tsunami, new unexpected Covid-19 measures.
  • A refund is only applicable if the participant of the supporter has paid the fee.

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FAQ

1 – What is included in the participation fee of € 1.500?

  • Exclusive duffle bag with your name
  • Spectacular starts
  • GPS live tracker
  • Checkpoints with water and the possibility to pick up your own small bag with your own food / drinks. This small bag you have hand in to the organisation at the start of the stage
  • Medical support
  • Sleeping in an army tent (bring your own sleeping bag) for five nights (9-14 June)
  • Transfers in army vehicles (a transfer for example from the camp site to the start of a new stage)
  • Luggage transport from one camp site to the next one
  • Breakfast and diner, starting with diner at he 9th of June and ending with dinner at the 14th of June)
  • Tourist taxes

2 – What is included in the supporter fee of € 500?

  • Bed in one of the army tents (bring you own sleeping bag an pillow) for five nights (9-14 June)
  • Breakfast and diner together with the participants, starting with diner at he 9th of June and ending with dinner at the 14th of June)
  • Tourist taxes

Supporters need to arrange their own support between the start of a stage to the finish that stage where the new camp will be located.

3 – How do I get to the check-in location in Normandy, France?

You have to arrange your own transport to the check-in location. From the Netherlands and Belgium you can book transport for € 75 per person.

4 – Where is the check-in location located?

The check-in is located in Normady, France. The exact location will be announced later.

5 – When am I expected at the check-in location?

You need to be checked in Friday 9th of June 2023 18:00hrs. Diner and subsequent briefing will start at 19:00hrs.

6 – Are showers and changing rooms available before and after each stage?

We will use camp sites including showers and toilets. The showers can also be used for changing.

7 – Are for each gender (man, woman, neutral) seperated army tent available?

No. The army tents where we sleep will be mixed.

8 – Will my personal stuff transported from the start of each stage to the finish of that same stage?

Yes, we will transport your personal stuff that you don’t need during running the stage from the start to the finish of that stage.

9 – What are the time limits for the stages?

We only have a time limit for the stage of ±81km: 14 hours. For the other stages there is no time limit, because we run from the start to the next camp site. So, no transport is needed from the finish to the camp site.

10 – What equipment is required?

The mandatory kit list for the Liberation Trail consist of:

  • Closed trail running shoes with plenty of grip on the sole
  • Running backpack
  • Waterproof rain jacket
  • Warm clothing (top and trousers / running tights) as an insulating layer between the outer clothing and the skin
  • Working headlamp with spare batteries (only needed when starting in the dark and the 100 KM stage)
  • Food supplies with your name and race number written on every single item of food packaging
  • Cup to take drinks at the refreshment stations
  • Plate, cutlery and a cup
  • Water container or soft flasks with accumulating volume of at least 1.5 litres.
  • Emergency kit (1x compress 10x10cm, 2x bandages, 2x gloves, 1x triangular bandage, 4x plasters, emergency whistle, blister plasters, survival blanket)
  • Navigation watch loaded with the GPS track of the course you are running or, alternatively, a self printed route map or map stored on a mobile device.
  • Mobile telephone with emergency telephone number saved into the phone in order to make emergency calls and inform the race organisers if you have to pull out of the race before reaching the finish (mobile phone must work abroad)
  • Sleeping bag & pillow
  • Passport
  • Spare clothes for the five stages

11 – What food is included?

Breakfast and diner are included, starting with diner at the 9th of June and ending with dinner at the 14th of June)

12 – Is it possible to take into account my food preferences and/or food allergies?

When booking you can choose the next food preferences:

  • No restrictions
  • Vegan

13 – How are the aid stations equipped during the stages?

Every participant can hand in a small bag with their personal food and drinks for each aid station on the course of that day. As an organization we only provide water at these food stations. The number of aid stations depends on the length of the stage:

  • ±49 KM: at least 2 aid stations
  • ±43 KM: at least 2 aid stations
  • ±21 KM: at least 1 aid station
  • ±81 KM: at least 4 aid stations
  • ±44km: at least 2 aid stations

14 – Is medical support available?

One person with a medical background is part of the organization team. This person is available at the camp site for consultation before each start and after the finish.

During the stages you can contact our medic via our emergency phone number.

15 – How do I get back home from the finish in Arnhem, the Netherlands?

You have to arrange your own transport from Arnhem back home or another destination. As as free service we can drop you at Central Station in Arnhem or Amersfoort.

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OMAHA BEACH - HERMANVILLE SUR MER

STAGE 1 - ±49 KM
TUESDAY JUNE 13, 2023

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PEGASUS BRIDGE - THURY HARCOURT

STAGE 2 - ±45 KM
WEDNESDAY JUNE 14, 2023

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SECRET NIGHT TRAIL ARDENNES

STAGE 3 - ±15 KM
THURSDAY JUNE 15, 2023

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TROIS PONTS - STOUMONT - TROIS PONTS

STAGE 4 - ±29 KM
FRIDAY JUNE 16, 2023

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EINDHOVEN - NIJMEGEN

STAGE 5 - ±81 KM
SATURDAY JUNE 17, 2023

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GINKELSE HEIDE - ARNHEM BRIDGE

STAGE 6 - ±44 KM
SUNDAY JUNE 18, 2023