RUNNING IN FREEDOM – 80 YEARS LIBERATED

On May 5th, we celebrate Dutch Liberation Day – the day in 1945 when the Netherlands was finally freed from Nazi occupation. In 2025, that moment lies exactly 80 years behind us. A full lifetime has passed since the guns fell silent and freedom returned to everyday life.

The Liberation Trail follows in the footsteps of the Allied forces, who landed in Normandy in June 1944 and fought their way across France, Belgium, and into the Netherlands. Our name is a tribute to that journey – not just a military route, but a path paved with courage, sacrifice, and hope.

For those who lived through the war, running meant something very different. It wasn’t about sport, health, or freedom. It was survival.
As one eyewitness once recalled:
“During the war, running wasn’t freedom – it was fear. You ran when the sirens wailed, when the bombs fell, or when the soldiers came. You didn’t run for joy. You ran to hide. You ran for your life.”

Today, we run because we can.
We run to honor the past.
We run in freedom – something that can never be taken for granted.

With every kilometer we cover on the Liberation Trail, we carry their stories forward. We remember the silence after liberation. The flags in the streets. The tears. The joy. The pain. The promise: never again.

In June 2025, runners from across the world will come together once more. From the beaches of Normandy to the bridges of the Netherlands – we run not to escape, but to remember. Not in fear, but in freedom.

Join us. Run with purpose. Run the Liberation Trail.

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