Taking place on Sunday, May 5, 2024, the 2024 Wings for Life World Run spanned 192 nationalities and 158 countries. With a rolling finish line, during the mass participation event, participants ran, walked or rolled to keep ahead of the ‘catcher car’.
In the unique event format, participants don’t run towards a finish line – they run away from it – as they are chased by the event’s signature catcher car, either virtually or in-person. The catcher car gives a 30-minute head start and when this moving finish line passes by, the race has been completed, with the last man and woman to be caught named the global champions.
The global winners of the event were Dominka Stelmach from Poland, who triumphed in the women’s category by covering 55km in Poznań, while Tomoya Watanabe ran 70.09km during the run in Marine Messe Fukuoka, Japan.
The 2024 edition of Wings for Life World Run made significant strides in fundraising, with global entry fees and donations totalling a record €8,104,499.15. Notably, 100% of all entry fees and donations go directly to spinal cord research. From within the triathlon world, Challenge Family participated with a team.
With its unique race format, the 2024 edition of Wings for Life World Run once again showed why it is an inclusive running event, drawing 265,827 participants globally to run, roll in a wheelchair, jog, or simply walk in aid of spinal cord research. This is another participant milestone, up notably on the 2023 event, which saw 206,728 participants take part.
Since the first event in 2014, the Wings for Life World Run has raised a total of €51.9 million over the past 10 years, with 1,559,543 people having taken part.
