Lt Col Mike McErlain set up the charity run in 2009 with his wife Jo and brother-in-law Giles. He ran it for 5 years and the event raised over £100,000 for BLESMA. 

Tragically during the 5th run in 2013, Mike collapsed and died. The event has not been run since. Now with Jo’s blessing and the support of their three children,  the event returns in 2018, to continue its important fundraising work, with three chosen charities of: Blesma, Blind Veterans UK and Combat Stress.

Tim joined the Army with Mike and went through Officer training together in 1995. They both then passed P Coy and served alongside each other as Regimental Medical Officers for 2 PARA (Tim) and 1 PARA (Mike). 

Both Cal and Tim got to know both Mike and Jo really well during their early years in the Army. Mike was in our Guard of Honour when we were married and Jo & Cal both shared the experience of being at home with a husband deployed overseas.

Mike was a great friend, colleague and an excellent surgeon. He had a fantastic sense of humour, a great personality and was someone you could rely on to go the extra mile. His death was a massive loss to his family, friends, colleagues and to the Defence Medical Services.

Cal and I have never run anything like this before (a distance more than 3 Great North Runs, up and down the coastal paths of Normandy) so the task of following in Mike's footsteps and running 44 miles is a huge challenge for us. We wanted to do this to remember Mike and to support those charities he really believed in. 

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, is dedicated to assisting serving and ex-Service men and women who have suffered life-changing limb loss or the loss of use of a limb, an eye or loss of sight. We support these men and women in their communities throughout the UK and overseas. We work tirelessly for our Members when the conflicts that have affected their lives are no longer a focal point in the nation’s media. Since 1932, we have been the only national Service charity that supports limbless veterans for the duration of their lives. Our Members range from the youngest amputee veterans to those who fought in WWII, some having lived with limb loss for more than half a century. Modern medicine transforms the physical injury, but it is a complicated process to treat the emotional trauma and related lifelong health problems.Blesma provides a network where Members not only enjoy support from our professional Welfare Team, but where they have the opportunity to engage with others who have similar injuries and backgrounds to themselves, building an important fellowship with each other to overcome everyday battles.