PUTLEY resident Kester Wilkinson is taking part in a 65-mile run to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

Mr Wilkinson is one of 200 runners who will retrace the route of men from the 52nd Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, under the command of Major John Howard, who were among the first troops into Normandy on D-Day.

Project 65 will retrace the route of these troops from Tarrant Rushton, the small airfield in Dorset from where they took off to their objective: Pegasus Bridge.

They will start out from the airfield at 2pm on Thursday, June 4, and run to Portsmouth, where they will take a ferry to France. They will then run to Pegasus Bridge.

"We hope to arrive at exactly the same time of day as the troops landed, and that will mark the mark the start of the D-Day anniversary celebration," he said.

"Both my parents were in the forces and my stepfather's brother was sergeant navigator who died in the war so I am delighted to be involved in the D Day commemoration."

Mr Wilkinson, aged 38, is no stranger to a challenge. Last autumn he took part in a 135-mile ultra-marathon in the Amazon jungle. He also built his own ecologically-sound house in Putley, made of straw and with solar heating.

"I'm not in such good shape as for the Amazon, but I've been doing a lot of training on the Malvern Hills and I should be OK," he said.

Each runner has to raise £1,000 part of which will fund a memorial at Pegasus Bridge, with the rest going to service charities. Anyone wanting to sponsor Mr Wilkinson can visit justgiving.com/kesterwilkinson.