Wings for Life World Run
A couple of months ago, I don’t even remember how or when precisely, I stumbled upon the Wings for Life World Run, a worldwide running event organised by the Wings for Life charity foundation to raise money to support research to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
As I was looking for motivation to get back on track with my healthy habits, I thought “why not?” and registered. The run supports both the option of showing up at one of the “Flagship runs” on location, or of running on your own, wherever you want, through GPS and their dedicated app. On the day, the run starts for everyone at the exact same time.
Being a casual runner who likes to be outside on her own, I opted for the app, and walked to a nice area in the middle of nowhere where I could start on the “GO” signal. The run itself is inclusive, it supports runners, Nordic walkers, and wheelchair users, and it lets you set your own goal. I set my distance to 5 km, and my goal time slow enough that I could alternate running and walking if I wanted to.
I ended up running at a slowish pace, and finishing my 5 km in around 40 minutes, but had lots of fun in the process. The app itself is very well designed, with regular audio cues and a fun pre-show 15 minutes prior to the race itself, with warm-up exercises, interviews, and interesting facts about the charity and the race.
It was such a great experience I decided to register for the next event in one year. Hopefully at that time I'll be able to run 10 km comfortably and at a better pace, but I will set my goals as I get closer to the race: I like the idea of setting a longer term goal that would keep me motivated to train, but I want to set myself up for success and I want to keep the option of “Just show up and take it easy” open.
~ Melyanna