I am so stoked because the Wings for Life World Run is back for it’s 2nd Year and will be taking place at exactly the same time all over the world on the 3rd of May 2015.
The Wings for Life World Run starting line in Cape Town will be from the Boschendal Wine Estate in Franschhoek, and there are 34 other locations around the world that will hear the gun go off to start the race at the exact same time. This means that when we are kicking things off at 1pm here in South Africa, the folks over in Melbourne will have their gun go off 9pm their time and in Brazil, it will start at 8am. Essentially, people from all over the world will be running at exactly the same time, trying to beat the chase car.
100% of the proceeds go to a good cause:
Millions of people around the world are dependent on wheelchairs after having sustained a spinal cord injury, most of which were caused by car/bicycle accidents or falling, leaving a lot of people paralysed for the rest of their lives. Wings for Life, a non-profit spinal cord research foundation was founded with a mission to find a cure for spinal cord injuries and since 2004, they have funded life-changing research projects and clinical trials around the globe. While the cure is still to be discovered, the foundation has aided in the tremendous amount progress that has already been made. The inaugural Wings for Life World Run in 2014 raised over €3 million and all future entry fees and sponsorships to this global running event will help work towards their ultimate goal, which is finding the cure.
Here’s how it works:
Half an hour after the gun goes off around the world, the chase car will start driving in the direction of the runners, increasing it’s speed in timed increments. Once the car reaches runners, they are out of the race and after 2 and a half hours, the front runners would have reached a distance of 35km’s.
Catcher Car Pace Increments for Cape Town:
The catcher car in South Africa will set off to catch the runners half an hour after the race has started and the will start at 15km/h. It will slowly increase it’s speed in these increments:
- 13:00 – Race Start
- 13:30 – Catcher Car starts at a pace of 15km/h
- 14:30 – Pace Increase: 16km/h
- 15:30 – Pace Increase: 17km/h
- 16:30 – Pace Increase: 20km/h
- 18:30 – Pace Increase: 35km/h
(credit: Kolesky / Nikon / Red Bull Content Pool)
More about the Wings for Life World Run:
The Wings for Life World Run was introduced on the 3rd of May 2014, as the worlds first global running event. Athletes in 35 locations from around the world start at exactly the same time, 13:00SAST or 11:00 UTC. What makes this race so unique though is that it has no finish line. Instead, all runners are “chased” by a catcher car, which starts it’s engines 30 minutes after the start at pace of 15km/h. It then steadily increases its speed until the last runners have been caught. Last year, Lemawork Ketema took the title as the Global Winner, and was caught after more than five hours and 78 km. This year, the Wings for Life World Run App is also available for training and registering for the Selfie Run.
How to Enter:
If you would like to enter to run the 2015 Wings for Life World Run on the 3rd of May in Cape Town, you can register at www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/capetown, for only R250 and 100% of your entry fee will go to the Wings for Life Foundation to aid Spinal Cord research.