With an hour left before the deadline to complete the 2012 Nijmegen March in July, the Soldier On Team was 5km from the finish.

The annual march in the Netherlands, promoting sport and exercise, has become the largest walk in the world and attracts thousands of military personnel from dozens of countries.

Having already walked 135km in four days, the eight-person team, made up of active duty soldiers who suffered injuries including limb amputations and operational stress injuries, did what they needed to do.

They started to run.

“These are the things movies are made of,” said Lt.-Col. Markus Besemann, who was part of a medical team monitoring the Soldier On group.

Besemann spoke Wednesday at the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research’s third annual forum on military health in Kingston.

“Of all the memorable things I’ve done in my life, having to finish with these people was probably one of the most amazing experiences,” he said.

“This was a phenomenal, phenomenal experience.”

In addition to showcasing the abilities of injured soldiers, the participation of the eight-member Soldier On Team in the march served a scientific purpose, too.

Researchers hoped to use the event to measure if there was a psychological benefit to high-level physical activity and to see if those benefits could be retained over longer periods.

The event was used to measure how well the participants coped with the physical task of marching 40km per day for four days and in being in a large crowd, a situation that is often difficult for soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder to cope with.

Participants were screened in February and took part in a couple of training camps in the months leading up to July’s march, explained Capt. Pauline Godsell, another member of the research team.

The training of the participants included assessments of their physical ability and included use of a Computer Assisted Rehabilitative Environment (CAREN), a system that uses a treadmill and infrared cameras to record information about a person’s stride and gait as they walk.

It was the first time the Canadian Forces Health Services and the Ottawa Hospital worked on an application together, Godsell said.

Besemann acknowledged the study was based on a very small number of participants but said it could help guide future research.

Besemann said the research on the 2012 team showed the importance of setting goals.

Many of the Soldier On Team participants had not retained the physical or mental health benefits they experienced from the march.

Those that had held onto the benefits were already focussing on another goal.

elliot.ferguson@sunmedia.ca

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