NEW ORLEANS (press release) – To coincide with the 79th anniversary of the Battle of Midway and the upcoming 77th anniversary of D-Day, The National WWII Museum and Allstate Sugar Bowl Crescent City Classic are launching the second annual WWII Challenge (formerly the Liberty Road Challenge).
This year’s unique virtual challenge will offer participants the options of selecting either the “Operation Liberty Road” courses (100- and 712-mile options) to honor the route Allied forces took to liberate France in the summer of 1944 or the “Operation Pacific Theater” courses (72- and 717-mile options) to commemorate the vast accomplishment of securing the Pacific Ocean and its islands. Both challenges are $50 to enter.
Beginning Friday, June 4, which is the 79th anniversary of the beginning of Battle of Midway, runners, walkers, joggers and even bicyclists can sign up to tackle the virtual challenge either individually or as part of a team. Logging of mileage will begin on July 4 and end on Labor Day, September 6, 2021.
Participants completing any of the “Operation Liberty Road” or “Operation Pacific Theater” courses will receive an exclusive T-shirt, finisher’s dog tag, virtual bib and 25% off general admission to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. A portion of participants’ entry fees and 100% of donations to the challenges will go directly to the museum and its mission. Last year’s contributions totaled more than $80,000.
“With the anniversary of the Battle of Midway and D-Day this month, we’re thrilled to partner with The National WWII Museum again to launch a patriotic way to stay active,” said WWII Challenge Director Eric Stuart. “Last year’s WWII Challenge was a smashing success for CCC and The National WWII Museum so we’re ecstatic to continue the partnership and the tradition.”
“We are proud to partner with the Crescent City Classic again this year on the WWII Challenge. After last year’s successful event, we developed a Pacific option to pay tribute to the men and women who served in the island-hopping campaign,” said Nathan Huegen, Director of Educational Travel at The National WWII Museum. “Operation Pacific Theater, in addition to European challenge course, opens up new educational content for the participants as they advance across each stage and helps to honors those who fought in both campaigns.”
Registration for the WWII Challenge will open on Friday, June 4. To register, interested participants should visit www.ccc10k.com. Any questions runners have about the virtual race can be emailed to customer.service@ccc10k.com.