We were invited to join the Red Bull South Africa team on their trial run held on Friday, 10 March, in preparation for the Wings for Life World Run, which will be held on Sunday, 7 May 2023. The event raises funds for the Wings for Life Foundation, which is searching for the cure for spinal cord injuries. Red Bull is a global partner of the Foundation and assisting with organising the run.
The event is unique in that participants are not racing to a finish line. Instead, with a 30-minute head start, participants try to out race the Catcher Car, which operates as a finish line. When it passes a participant, their race is complete. Thus, anyone – regardless of fitness level – can participate.
The event can be joined virtually through the Wings for Life World Run app, which is available on mobile app stores. The Red Bull trial run gave participants an opportunity to test the app prior to the race. With the use of the training function under the “run” tab in the app, we were able to mimic the race day.
The team set off at a leisurely pace of 14 minutes per kilometre. With the head start, we travelled three kilometres before the Catcher Car caught up (roughly 13 minutes later). The app tracked our progress with a map and showed our time, distance travelled, pace as well as the Catcher Car’s progress. When the virtual car started, an icon appeared on the screen following our route. When it passed us, the phone vibrated and notified us that our race was done.
We found the app to be very user friendly and are excited for this accessible event. While the race is virtual, and can be joined from anywhere, Red Bull is organising “app events” so that participants can still enjoy the run together. There will be an event in Johannesburg at the Roodepoort Ruimsig Stadium, and in Cape Town at the Green Point Urban Park. Both events will include water stations, a big screen that broadcasts the event and runners from across the globe, as well as medals for all the participants. For more about the event, click here. For highlights from previous races, click here.
Any activities planned for Durban?
Not that we are aware of, but please go check out the Wings for Life World Run website or app for more information. There might be local groups formed that will run together. View the website here: https://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/en?viewerCountry=ZA