Wings for Life World Run

Looking for something a little different?  I recently discovered the Wings for Life World Run and think this is sounds like a really fantastic and fun event for a great cause.  What is it you ask?  The Wings for Life World Run is a global running and wheelchair event which starts everywhere in the world at 11:00 AM UTC on May 8, 2016 and finishes when the last person is caught by the Catcher Car.  It is the only event where the finish line catches you.  There are 35 race locations around the world and the race starts exactly at the same time at all locations.  35 race locations, 12 time zones, 6 continents, 101,000 participants in 2015 all racing together.  You start at whatever time that is in local time and run in whatever conditions are occurring locally.  That means 4:00 AM local time in Santa Clara CA or 7:00 AM in Sunrise FL or 8:00 PM in Takashima Japan.  There are no finish lines but there are catcher cars at each venue that start 30 minutes after the start and slowly increase speed.  The cars are equipped with electric chip readers and your individual race is over when the catcher car catches you.  The individual who is the last to be caught globally is the global winner and the race keeps track of each competitor’s distance traveled for a global leaderboard.  In 2015, the individual winner covered 49.65 miles before being caught. 

Here is a link to the Wings for Life World Run and a great video that explains the fun.  So – pick the time you want to run, pick the weather you want to run in and run with the entire world!

Wings for Life is an international not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation. Their mission is to find a cure for spinal cord injury.  100% of the participants entry fee goes to spinal cord research as the Red Bull company underwrites the administration costs.