The Route · April 2028
The
Long
Road Back.
350+
Miles on foot
12
Consecutive days
2
Countries
3
Charities
What this is
Bridport
to Paris.
On foot.
In April 2028, James Sayers and Andy Potter will run from the Jurassic Coast of Dorset to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris — across twelve consecutive days, through the roads of England and rural France.
This is not a race. It is not a stunt. It is an act of endurance undertaken with deliberate intent: to raise money for the hospital wards that have touched their lives directly, and to demonstrate — publicly, mile by mile — what the human body and spirit are capable of when the cause is right.
The run begins at Bucky Doo Square in Bridport, passes through Dorset County Hospital, and runs 42 miles to Poole Ferry Terminal. That night the team crosses the Channel on the 22:00 overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg. Eleven consecutive days then follow through Normandy and northern France to Paris.
Why this route
It started as ten marathons in ten days.
The first plan was simple: roughly a marathon a day, ten days, Bridport to Paris. Then we mapped every road properly — back roads, not A-roads, for safety — and the distances grew. So did the ambition. The route turned east to take in Bridport’s twin town, ran the length of the D-Day coast, and went through the Suisse Normande instead of around it.
What came out is twelve consecutive days, 350+ miles, a 47-mile day called THE BIG ONE — and a route drawn from each Dorset town to its French twin:
Bridport → Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Twinned 1979
We leave from Bucky Doo Square. On the first morning in France we turn east, off the direct road, to run into Bridport’s twin town at mile 20.
Dorchester → Bayeux
Twinned 1959
We run through Dorchester and past Dorset County Hospital on the UK Day, and sleep in Bayeux at the end of France Day 2. A friendship that grew from the Dorset Regiment’s part in the liberation of Bayeux in June 1944.
In 1066, an army crossed from Normandy to conquer England. In 1944, the crossing went the other way. In 2028, two men from Dorset run the corridor again — past the D-Day beaches, through Falaise a thousand years after William the Conqueror was born there, and on to the Arc de Triomphe.
Everything is planned. Now we need sponsors to make it happen.
Explore the route map →Choose your day →The Route
Twelve Days. Every Step.
UK Day
Bridport → Dorset County Hospital → Poole
The run begins at Bucky Doo Square, Bridport. East through the Bride Valley and past the Hardy Monument, then through Dorset County Hospital — where both runners have been treated — and on through Wareham to Poole Ferry Terminal. That night the support car drives to Portsmouth for the 22:00 overnight ferry to Cherbourg. England leaves quietly behind.
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England
42 mi
France Day 1
Cherbourg → Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue → Sainte-Mère-Église → Carentan
Off the overnight ferry at dawn and into France. First east across the Cotentin to Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue — Bridport’s twin town — then south along the Utah Beach coast and across the Cotentin marshes — the same flooded ground where American paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne dropped into the dark on the night of 5th June 1944. Through Sainte-Mère-Église, the first town liberated on D-Day. Into Carentan.
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France · Day 1
42.2 mi
France Day 2
Carentan → Pointe du Hoc → Omaha Beach → Arromanches → Bayeux
The D-Day coast. From Carentan past Isigny and Grandcamp-Maisy to the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, then the American cemetery above Omaha Beach — 9,388 graves facing west across the Atlantic. Past the remains of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches, still standing in the sea since June 1944. Into Bayeux, the first medieval city liberated, home of the tapestry for more than 900 years — and Dorchester’s twin town. The runners passed through Dorchester two days before.
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France · Day 2
38.9 mi
France Day 3
Bayeux → Tilly-sur-Seulles → Villers-Bocage → Thury-Harcourt
South from the history into the bocage. Through Tilly-sur-Seulles and Villers-Bocage — the hedgerows that slowed the Allied advance all summer are still here, dense and green. The road drops into the Orne valley and the first real hills of the route. Thury-Harcourt sits at the gateway to the Suisse Normande.
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France · Day 3
29.5 mi
France Day 4
Thury-Harcourt → Falaise · THE CALM BEFORE
A shorter day by design. The team knows what is coming tomorrow. The route to Falaise passes through the countryside where William the Conqueror was born in 1028 — a castle that still stands above the town. Rest. Eat. Prepare.
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The Calm Before
17.5 mi
France Day 5
Falaise → Pont-d’Ouilly → Rock of Oëtre → Briouze → Carrouges · THE BIG ONE ⚡
The day the campaign is defined by. Out of Falaise, through the ground of the Falaise Pocket of August 1944. Then the gorges of the Suisse Normande — sheer rock walls above the Orne and the Rouvre. Up to the Rock of Oëtre, 118 metres above the Rouvre gorge. On through Briouze and Rânes to the moated château at Carrouges. 47 miles of the hardest terrain on the entire route. No shortcuts. This is the one.
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47 miles ⚡
47 mi
France Day 6
Carrouges → Sées · RECOVERY DAY
The day after the hardest day. Miles kept short, pace kept honest. The road east through the Forêt d’Écouves — past the Sherman tank “Valois” that helped close the Falaise Pocket — to Sées, whose Gothic cathedral spires appear long before the town. Recovery day, but the road still earns its keep.
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Recovery
20.1 mi
France Day 7
Sées → Mortagne-au-Perche
Into the Perche — the horse country of Normandy. Rolling hills, dense woodland, working farms. Mortagne-au-Perche is a medieval hilltop town, one of the historic migration points for the founding families of New France. The route is quieter here. Paris is getting closer.
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France · Day 7
20.1 mi
France Day 8
Mortagne-au-Perche → Bellême → Nogent-le-Rotrou
South through the ancient oaks of the Forêt de Bellême and up into Bellême, one of the Orne’s great medieval hilltop towns. Then east into the Eure-et-Loir. Nogent-le-Rotrou sits on the Huisne river, a working Perche town with an 11th-century château above the water. The pace steadies. Paris is three days away.
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France · Day 8
24.1 mi
France Day 9
Nogent-le-Rotrou → Thiron-Gardais → Illiers-Combray → Chartres
Past the 12th-century Abbaye de Tiron, then through Proust country — Illiers-Combray is the childhood home of Marcel Proust, the Combray of his novels. Then the Beauce plain opens up, flat and vast, and Chartres cathedral appears on the horizon, its twin spires visible from 20 miles across the plain. The longest France day since THE BIG ONE.
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France · Day 9
37.7 mi
France Day 10
Chartres → Gallardon → Rambouillet
Paris is close enough to feel real. North-east across the Beauce to Gallardon and its leaning medieval tower, then on to Rambouillet — for more than a century the summer retreat of French presidents, on the edge of a great forest of beech and oak. The psychology shifts. The Arc de Triomphe stops being a concept and starts being a destination.
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France · Day 10
24.8 mi
France Day 11
Rambouillet → Versailles → Arc de Triomphe, Paris · THE FINALE
The last day. Friends, family, and invited supporters travel to Paris. The photographer and cameraman are present for the final approach. North through the Forêt de Rambouillet and the Chevreuse valley to Versailles, then the Seine at Sèvres and the left bank into the city. A stop at the Eiffel Tower. Then one more mile — over the Pont d’Iéna and up past the Trocadéro to the Arc de Triomphe. 350+ miles. Done.
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Paris ★
34.2 mi
Three moments that define the run
The Waypoints That Matter
UK Day · Dorchester
Dorset County Hospital
The route passes directly through the hospital that anchors the campaign’s purpose. Ward staff, supporters, and family gather here. The run does not detour past DCH — it goes through it.
Fortuneswell Cancer Ward · Prince of Wales Renal Ward
France Day 5 · Normandy
The Big One
47 miles in a single day. The centrepiece of the whole campaign — the day that defines what this run is. Alan McNamee, the campaign’s lead photographer, will be there for every mile of it.
Premium sole-sponsor slot · £2,500 · Falaise → Carrouges
France Day 11 · Paris
The Eiffel Tower
The final push into Paris — past the Eiffel Tower and finishing at the Arc de Triomphe. Friends, family, and supporters travel to Paris for the finish. Title Sponsor branding at the finish line. The most photographed moment of the campaign.
34.2 miles · Eiffel Tower & Arc de Triomphe
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