After his younger brother and son were paralyzed in accidents, Heinz Kinigadner, one of the top riders in the Motocross Grand Prix World Championships during the mid-1980s, helped start the Wings for Life foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injuries.
This May, along with more than 30 countries on six continents, the USA will host three simultaneous races as part of the ‘Wings for Life World Run’ on May 4, 2014. Runners around the globe will participate together in support of bringing awareness to spinal cord injury and to fund research for finding a cure.
Unlike any other race ever, this global event has no fixed distance or finish line and every runner around the world, from part-time joggers to top professional runners, will start at the exact same time.
Thousands of runners will set off on May 4, 2014 at 10 AM UTC (6 AM ET/3 AM PT) along routes in varying daylight and weather conditions. While it will be early morning in the three USA locations – Santa Clarita, Calif.; Sunrise, Fla.; and Denver, Col. – competitors in Germany will set off at midday while those in Taiwan will start at 6 PM local time.
Never has the sporting world seen a race format like this.
With no set distance or finish line, participants are pursued by a moving finish line known as the ‘catcher car.’ Thirty minutes following the start of the race, all catcher cars globally will begin advancing through the racecourse at the same pace. A participant’s race ends once the catcher car overtakes the individual runner. Results will be based on distance rather than time. The male and female runners in each race who cover the most distance before being overtaken by the catcher car will be crowned as local champions of the Wings for Life World Run. The final male and female runners across all runs will be the global champions. This will be the inaugural race with plans to host future runs around the world to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
Among those taking part will be ski racing champion Lindsey Vonn, windsurfing icon Robby Naish, ex-Formula One driver David Coulthard, world class ultrarunner Karl Meltzer, and many other sporting heroes who have all volunteered as event ambassadors.
It is estimated that 3,000,000 people worldwide are living with a spinal cord injury. Every year 130,000 more sustain a spinal cord injury, followed by paralysis – the main cause being traffic accidents. The advances in research are largely based on private initiatives. Being a non-profit organization based in Austria, the Wings for Life Foundation relies on support and donations to help fund this research. Wings for Life is set up to ensure that a guaranteed 100% of all donations it receives are used exclusively for promising research projects. The mission is clear: to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
Registration is Open
Those wanting to take part on May 4, 2014 have until midnight (UTC) on Sunday, April 20, 2014 to register for one of the runs via www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com. However, participation per race is limited so interested entrants will want to register soon.
As the official global producer of the Wings for Life World Run, Red Bull ensures all money collected by the runs and via the European Merchant Services (EMS) payment systems will go to the Wings for Life foundation.
