2025 Wings for Life Worldrun record

The Wings for Life World Run is breaking its own record for the largest running event in the world as a new high of 310,719 officially registered participants of 191 nationalities run, walk and roll simultaneously to find a cure for spinal cord injury.

The 12th edition of the race started at 11:00am UTC (1:00pm Central European Time) in 170 countries and will come to an end once the last runner or wheelchair user worldwide gets caught by a moving finish line called the Catcher Car.

Among those supporting the race are sporting celebrities such as Red Bull Head of Global Soccer Jürgen Klopp (GER), surfer Carissa Moore (USA), hurdler Karsten Warholm (NOR), and trials rider Fabio Wibmer (AUT). Other stars competing include triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), American football quarterback Arch Manning (USA), gamer Masato ‘Bonchan’ Takahashi (JPN), rally racing’s Sébastien Loeb (FRA), paddler Jessica Fox (AUS), cycling’s Tom Pidcock (GBR), basketball player Pascal Siakam (CMR), skier Eileen Gu (CHN), skateboarders Leticia Bufoni (BRA) and Ryan Sheckler (USA), father and son windsurfing athletes Björn Dunkerbeck (DEN) and Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP), and tennis players Dominic Thiem (AUT), Elena Rybakina (KAZ) and Stan Wawrinka (SUI).

They are being pursued by Catcher Car drivers such as snowboarding’s Anna Gasser (AUT), ski jumping’s Adam Małysz (POL), and F1 analyst and former driver Robert Doornbos (NED).

Many of the participants are joining individually with the Wings for Life World Run App, as well as in organised groups at 452 App Run Events, where they are chased down by a Virtual Catcher Car in 68 countries including Cape Town (RSA), Madrid (ESP), London (GBR), Dubai (UAE), Tokyo (JPN), Sydney (AUS), Miami (USA) and Rio de Janeiro (BRA).

They’re also running in seven large-scale Flagship Runs held in Vienna (Austria), Breda (Netherlands), Munich (Germany), Zug (Switzerland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Zadar (Croatia) and Poznań (Poland).

With 100% of all entry fees and donations going to spinal cord research, it is anticipated that the event will be able to announce a new fundraising record when it concludes at an expected time of roughly 3:00 pm UTC (5:00 pm CET).

Next year’s Wings for Life World Run will take place on May 10, 2026. Registration for the 2026 run will open on November 5, 2025 at www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com.