Wings for Life World Run

Mohamed Al Attar in Action • This is the race for everyone, the first of its kind • Three Athletes from Kuwait to run in Georgia hree Red Bull Athletes from Kuwait (Mohamed Jaffar, Mohamed Al Attar & Mansour Al Safran) will join tens of Three Athletes pausing in front of Kuwait Towers Tthousands of runners around the world will set off on a history-making journey in a simultaneous global race for char- Mohamed Al Attar Mohamed Al ity in 32 different countries. On May 4 runners of all ages and abilities from 136 nations will take part in the first-ever Wings for Life World Run. The top prize will be an extraordinary month-long trip around the world for the best male and female runners. The remarkable feature of the first global sporting event of its kind is that a moving finish line will be chasing the runners from behind instead of the runners dashing towards a fixed finish line. It will start at precisely 10am UTC and will end hours later when the last male and female runner is caught by one of the Catcher Cars. Those amazing athletes will be crowned global winners of the first Wings for Life World Run. They will win an unforget- table highlight-filled journey that features stops in Salzburg, Istanbul, , Hong Kong, Bangkok, Sydney, Fiji, Los Angeles and . The red carpets will be rolled out for the winners at all these stops with priceless experiences ranging from aerobatic flights to meetings with sporting and business legends. The aim of this truly global happening is to raise funds for spinal cord research. Although the run is open to participants 18 years or older of all levels, shapes, sizes and abilities there are several favorites to win the race like Takahiro Sunada, a Japanese ultramarathon runner who holds the world record for 100 kilometers (6:13:33) as well as three-time ultrama- rathon world champion Giorgio Calcaterra of Italy. Sunada will be running in the race in Austria while Calcaterra will be run- Unlike most races, there is no set distance to run; casual run- mately lead to treatments for spinal cord injury. The develop- ning in Italy. And they will not be the only ones battling for a ners and ultra-runners run as far as they can before the ments that have been demonstrated so far provide strong win. Catcher Car reaches them, whether that’s 5km, 10km, 20km or hope that treatment options are closer than they have ever Hundreds of top athletes from a wide range of sports and 100k later. been. However, intensive research work will be needed before countries have already signed up to support and participate At 10am UTC, tens of thousands of runners will run past a breakthrough in human medicine can be achieved. at the race. Red Bull Racing’s three-time Formula One World the Catcher Car and activate the chip in their Race Numbers, 100% of the revenues of the Wings for Life World Run - Champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany is one of the Wings of so the cutting-edge tracking technology can follow their including entry or sponsor fees - goes to spinal cord research. Life World Run ambassadors and supports this race as well as progress and give accurate finishing distance. The administrative costs of the event and the foundation are former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan (Ireland) and Thirty minutes after the runners start, the Catcher Car at covered by the Red Bull group. Alpine skiing champion Lindsey Vonn (USA). Among the each location will start chasing them at 15km an hour (9.32 world’s top athletes who will take part in the race are former miles/hr), and the speed will increase globally, at exactly the Formula One racer Mark Webber (), Aksel Lund Svidal same time, every hour. (Norway), Steve Hooker (Australia), pole vaulter and Olympic 10.00 UTC - RACE START gold medalist, rugby legend Dan Carter (New Zealand), wind- 10.30 UTC - CATCHER CAR STARTS ON COURSE - PACE: Mansour Al Safran in Action surfing hero Robbie Naish (USA), Red Bull Air Race World 15km/hr (9.32 miles/hr) Champion pilot Hannes Arch (Austria) and actor-model Wang 11.30 UTC - PACE INCREASE: 16km/hr (9.94 miles/hr) Li Ya will be taking part in Taiwan. 12.30 UTC - PACE INCREASE: 17km/hr (10.56 miles/hr) Raising funds and awareness for spinal cord injury, “It’s a 13.30 UTC - PACE INCREASE: 20 km/hr (12.43 miles/hr) race to help other people - and no one should miss it,” said 15.30 UTC - PACE INCREASE: 35km/hr (21.75 miles/hr) Giorgio Calcaterra, Italy’s three-time world champion ultra- When the Catcher Car passes a runner, the chip in his or marathon runner, who is tipped for the crown.”Taking part in a her Race Number will be deactivated and the runner’s finish- race like this is amazing.” But while he is racing in Verona, Italy, ing distance, time and ranking will be calculated. he’ll be competing against 100km world-record holder The runner will be returned to the starting area either by a (6:13.33) Takahiro Sunada, a Japanese ultra-marathoner, in shuttle bus that follows the racers, or by heading to the near- Austria. And just like every other runner around the world, est race bus station for a bit of celebration time before the neither man will know how far or fast his competitor is run- next shuttle arrives to pick them up. ning. This a battle of natural pace Wings for Life is a not-for-profit spinal cord research foun- On 4th May a global community of runners - from those dation. Our mission is to find a cure for spinal cord injury. We who have never entered a race before to ultra-runners will fund world-class scientific research and clinical trials around come together to race and to raise money and awareness for the globe aimed at healing the injured spinal cord. spinal cord injury research. In most cases paralysis is caused by acute damage to the In 34 locations, in 33 countries, on six continents, the spinal cord following a traumatic injury. Nerve fibres are dam- starter signal will sound at 10am UTC and get this unique race aged and functions below that injury are impaired or even underway. But what will 10am UTC look like around the lost. The main causes are accidents in daily life such as road world? accidents or falls. A lesion of the spinal cord not only impacts For New Zealand, 10am UTC will be 10pm local time. the ability to move your limbs; the injury also causes a large For India, 10am UTC will be 3pm, right in the heat of the number of health-related complications and limitations in dai- day. ly life. The Australian run in Busselton will run into a sunset across The diagnosis of “paraplegia” following a spinal cord injury the ocean. is likely to become a thing of the past because scientists agree Californians in Santa Clarita will start at 3am and run into a unanimously: injured nerve cells in the spinal cord are capable sunrise at 6:01am. of regeneration. In the last few years Wings for Life has been Running through some of the world’s most incredible and able to initiate a large number of promising projects, especial- diverse landscapes, this race appeals to all levels of runners; it ly in the fields of basic and preclinical research. The next major Mansour Al-Safran encourages everyone to participate in a way that suits them. step will be to translate these into clinical studies that ulti- Mohamed Jaffar

Wings for life World Run Running for those who cannot run Mohamed Jaffar in Action