The Wings for Life World Run 2016 in Melbourne took place on 8 May (equal to 7 May for the rest of the countries participating) for the third time since the inception of the event in 2014.
With the start gun marking the commencement of the race at 9pm in Australia, the approx. 80km course, set on one of Melbourne’s main motorways – Monash Freeway, provided a great course for participants as they battled through the night to stay ahead of the dreaded Catcher Car.
A charity event with proceeds going to spinal cord injury research, Wings for Life started with a simple but intriguing idea: What if you could get the whole world running? Everyone, worldwide, on the same day, at the same time. A race of epic proportions with just one lone runner left at the end. A world run.
After two years of planning, the Wings for Life World Run saw the light of day – but not before adding a little twist. The Catcher Cars, vehicles equipped with sensors, introduced to literally catch the runners not running towards a finish line but away from the finish line that chased them.
Since its inception in 2014, 136,677 people participated in over 40 locations raising more than €7 million to help fund spinal cord injury research projects all over the world.
Our Role
For the 2016 Wings for Life event in Melbourne, 3vent was contracted by event organiser and major sponsor Red Bull Australia to manage the course operations. It was a huge task as we worked with the local stakeholder and authorities such as Police, Traffic Management, Buses, Ambulance, First Aid in the days leading up to the event to deliver the run in that most safe and efficient matter.