The World Run When one of the founders of your nonprofit is known for founding a company with a repu¬tation like energy drink giant Red Bull, there is an expectation that you will host creative fundrais¬ers. Wings for Life has surpassed that expectation with the World Run, the innovative annual race it launched in 2014. In the Wings for Life World Run, there’s no set time and no set distance; instead, each runner starts their race at exactly the same moment all over the planet, at one of the 35 des¬ignated starting points for each 100km course. The runners get a 30-minute head start. Half an hour after the race begins, a “catcher car” leaves each starting point, traveling the course at just under 9 mph. When the catcher car passes a runner, that runner has been “caught” and is eliminated. The race ends when there is only one runner left on each course, and the distances covered by each are compared to find the overall champion. The World Run is a bit of a metaphor-generator. It’s a race to get to a treatment before one more person gets “caught” by paralysis. It’s a global example of the kind of tight scientific coor¬dination that will be necessary to get a therapy to market. It’s a visual reminder that efforts are underway to find those therapies in every corner of the planet, simultaneously. All the costs of mounting this elaborate international event are born by Red Bull, and all the entry fees go directly to support the science the Wings for Life scien¬tific board has identified as most promising.

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