"Wings for Life" - Run 2023

First Balmung "Wings for Life" run

Running together for a good cause! Ten runners started this year and reached a total of 87.29 km.

The Wings for Life Run is a unique running event that not only tests your personal stamina each year, but also makes a significant contribution to spinal cord research. It is an event that brings together people from all over the world to run together for a good cause.

Every registration contributes to enabling advances in medical research and making a positive difference in the lives of people living with a spinal cord injury. The Wings for Life Run differs from conventional runs, in which a fixed distance is completed, because here there is neither a fixed distance to be run nor a finish line. Instead, half an hour after the start, so-called Catcher Cars drive behind the runners and continuously increase their speed. As soon as the catcher car overtakes you, your run ends. This makes the Wings for Life run a super exciting and challenging experience where you can definitely push yourself to your limits. It was precisely because we found this event and its mission so exciting and wanted to increase the sense of community between colleagues that some of us decided to join in this year. Some of our team are already passionate runners and train regularly, but the event is also aimed at people who just want to walk. A total of 10 motivated runners met at the site of our new headquarters on Sunday, May 7, and got into the mood for competition. Supported by the Wings for Life app, the participants got in the mood for the event in a very cool way. The management not only donated the participation fees, but also organized running shirts and drinks.

At 1:00 p.m. sharp, our local time, the starting signal was given and everyone started running at their own pace. With each completed kilometer, we were cheered on by a voice from the off (a motivator could be selected in the app). Our personal motivator inevitably made us realize that running must be in our genes and that we already had almost Olympic skills. The further we got, the better the slogans felt, and in no time at all, everyone had broken the personal goal he or she had originally set for themselves. In the end, the entire team ran a full 87.29 km. The fact that this result had to be celebrated could not be avoided and so the management, anticipating this top performance, had organized a table for its participants in the Wörgl beer garden. At this point a big thank you for all the sponsoring! The event was great fun and we are already looking forward to the next joint event, perhaps with even more participants.