The Wings for Life World Run is back for its 13th edition on Sunday 10 May 2026, and organisers say the event is on course to be the largest yet. Held simultaneously around the world at 11:00 UTC, the global charity race pits runners and wheelchair athletes against a moving Catcher Car that pulls away from the start line 30 minutes after the gun and gradually accelerates until it sweeps the last competitor off the course. Every entry fee and donation goes directly to spinal cord injury research, the cause that has anchored the run since its launch in 2014.
Last year's edition drew 310,719 participants from 191 nationalities, comfortably surpassing the 265,818 finishers recorded in 2024. The organisers confirmed this week that App Run registrations for 2026 have already overtaken the 2025 total, putting the 13th edition firmly on track to set a new mark before the live flagship races have even started. The App Run format, in which runners follow a virtual Catcher Car through their phone, now accounts for the bulk of global participation and has been the chief driver of growth as the event has expanded beyond fixed start venues.
This year's flagship live races will be staged in Munich, Vienna, Dubai, Cape Town, Krakow, Rio de Janeiro and a dozen other host cities, with elite athletes including past Catcher Car survivors lining up alongside community runners and wheelchair athletes. The format has produced extraordinary distances at the elite end: the men's record stands at 91.4km set by Aron Anderson in the 2025 wheelchair event, while Polish ultra runner Dominika Stelmach holds the women's running mark at 71.36km. Most participants finish far shorter, with the Catcher Car typically catching newcomers in their first 10 to 12 kilometres.
The format is purpose-built for inclusivity, which is part of why participation keeps climbing. There is no qualifying time, no age limit and no fixed distance to complete; the only goal is to keep going for as long as you can before the Catcher Car arrives. That structure has made the event a fixture for first-time runners, charity teams and corporate groups, and the App Run option means anyone with a phone can take part from anywhere in the world. Organisers have confirmed that the 2026 edition will again use a synchronised global start, with App Runs converted to local time so that every participant is racing the same virtual Catcher Car at the same moment.
One hundred per cent of entry fees are funnelled to the Wings for Life Foundation, which has now distributed more than €56 million to spinal cord injury research projects since the run's inception. With registrations still open through to race morning and momentum building globally, the 2026 edition looks set to consolidate the run's status as the world's largest single-day charity running event. Race day starts at 11:00 UTC on 10 May; runners can sign up via the official Wings for Life World Run website or the dedicated App Run platform.