The first locations for the 2025 edition of the global Wings for Life World Run have been unveiled, and their registration window opens on November 6, 2024. Many of these destinations typically sell out, and the announcement that Olympic Champion Armand “Mondo” Duplantis is joining the charity run as a global ambassador takes the excitement even higher.
Salzburg, Austria, 05/11/2024 – For anyone who has ever dreamed of being part of a record-setting global event – in a sensational setting – this is your chance. In just days, registration will open for more than 30 start-line locations of the Wings for Life World Run 2025, which aims to break its own record as the largest running event in the world. And with 100% of entry fees going directly to research toward finding a cure for spinal cord injury, this charity run is also about much more. Those hoping to lock in one of these coveted start locations should mark their calendars and register on November 6, 2024.
The run is the primary fundraiser for the not-for-profit Wings for Life foundation, whose CEO, Anita Gerhardter, explains, “Funds raised from the 2024 Wings for Life World Run are already going to work in cutting-edge research and clinical trials around the globe, and our experts have now begun the assessment process for our next round of support. We’re so excited about the promise of emerging research approaches, and this progress is possible though the money raised from the Wings for Life World Run. Every participant makes a real difference!”
About the largest running event in the world
The Wings for Life World Run is the largest and most inclusive running event in the world, with a signature format that embraces participants of every fitness level, whether they run, roll in a wheelchair, jog or simply walk. As usual, in the upcoming run on May 4, 2025 participants will start at exactly the same moment, 11:00 am UTC, and will be chased by a moving finish line called the Catcher Car.
The 2024 edition shattered records as over a quarter of a million participants helped to raise €8,104,499 for spinal cord research. The total of 265,818 Wings for Life World Runners included 192 nationalities as they set off simultaneously in 169 countries, and they covered an average of 11.5km each, for a total distance equivalent to nearly 50 times around the globe.
App Run Event registration opening in more than 30 countries
With the Wings for Life World Run App, participants can run just about anywhere they choose, chased by a Virtual Catcher Car that’s voiced by a famous name. For those who want to use the App but don’t want to run solo, there are App Run Events.
Organized locally around the world, there were nearly 350 App Run Events in 2024, and the first App Run Event locations for 2025 – spanning over 30 countries so far – will be available for registration on November 6. Participants can choose to run against the backdrop of dramatic skylines such as New York City, Hong Kong and Expo City Dubai, as well as in other iconic destinations including Leipzig (Germany), Cape Town (South Africa), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Melbourne (Australia) and Vancouver (Canada), to name just a few. To find a nearby location, runners can explore these destinations and hundreds more to become available at www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com.
All Flagship Runs open November 6
Participants who prefer to run shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of others can choose a Flagship Run city, where a celebrity driver will pursue them in a physical Catcher Car. For 2025, those seven cities are Vienna (Austria), Zadar (Croatia), Munich (Germany), Breda (the Netherlands), Poznań (Poland), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Zug (Switzerland). All seven destinations sold out in the 2024 edition – in one case within minutes – so it’s never too soon to sign up.
Olympic Champion Mondo Duplantis as global ambassador
Following the biggest summer of his career, Swedish-American pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis is sharing another of his passions – helping to find a cure for spinal cord injury – as a new global ambassador for the Wings for Life World Run. Joining continuing ambassadors such as football star Neymar Jr. (Brazil), rugby icon Siya Kolisi (South Africa), skiing legend Lindsey Vonn (USA) and world-record hurdler Karsten Warholm (Norway), Duplantis is urging people worldwide to join the 12th edition of the run next May.
“I’m super excited and honored to be a global ambassador of the Wings for Life World Run. I think it’s such an amazing initiative,” Duplantis says. “Running for those who can’t – it’s such a beautiful event and a beautiful thing to be a part of. It’s something really special and I just can’t wait.”
It’s go time!
“With registration opening for over 30 locations on November 6, the Wings for Life World Run community is buzzing,” says Colin Jackson, the British hurdling legend who is international sports director for the run. “Signing up right away doesn’t just help to secure a spot at your preferred start line – it also means you’ll already be sharing in the pure joy of this event. And every single registration brings new hope to all those affected by spinal cord injury.”
The Wings for Life World Run starts simultaneously around the world at 11:00 am UTC on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
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About the Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation
Worldwide, millions of people are dependent on a wheelchair after having sustained a spinal cord injury, most often as the result of a traffic accident or a fall. Wings for Life is a not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation with the single mission to find a cure for spinal cord injury. Since 2004, Wings for Life has funded life-changing research projects and clinical trials around the globe. While a cure is still to be found, steady progress has been made. Every step taken at the Wings for Life World Run is a step in the right direction, because 100% of entry fees and donations goes to spinal cord research: www.wingsforlife.com.
About the Wings for Life World Run
Once a year, the Wings for Life World Run takes place around the globe. All participants start at the same time worldwide and run either individually with the Wings for Life World Run App or together in several Flagship Runs. The best part is that any form of the run is all about being there. It doesn’t matter how well, fast or far you run, whether you’re a professional athlete, hobby runner or an absolute beginner. It is all about having fun while running. For this reason there is no traditional finish line. Instead, 30 minutes after the start, either a virtual or – in the case of the Flagship Runs – a real Catcher Car picks up the chase and overtakes one runner after another. Results aren’t measured in time, but in distance achieved. Best of all: 100% of entry fees and donations goes directly to spinal cord research. In the editions of the Wings for Life World Run that have been completed to date, a total of 1,559,534 registered participants from 195 nationalities ran, walked and rolled on all seven continents and together raised a total of €51.93 million to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
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