Three Kuwaiti Red Bull Athletes joined thousands of runners on May 4th in Kakhti, Georgia by participating in a once in a lifetime race. The Wings For Life World Run supported a great cause for charity and took place simultaneously in 32 different countries around the world.
Mohamed Al Attar managed to run 15.3KMs while Mohamed Jaffar and Mansour Al Safran ran 10KMs. “My goal was not to win but to participate and support a good cause. I managed to achieve this by running 15 Kilometers” said, Mohamed Al Attar.
“I’m so glad that we managed to put some smiles on some faces. I really enjoyed the race and my time in Georgia.” said Mohamed Jaffar.
Mansour Al Safran said: “The Wings for Life World Run is a unique race format. The three of us are proud to represent Kuwait running for a good cause”.
Raising a staggering €3 million for spinal cord research, 35,397 runners ran a total of 530,928 kilometers – or the equivalent of one person running 13 laps around the world. The 34 races in 32 countries in six continents across 13 time zones started at 10am UTC, on the dot. In the searing heat of India and the bitter cold of Canada, those runners that finished within an hour warmed our hearts and raise smiles as many achieved fantastic personal goals.
After an hour, 29,847 were still running, and 5,146 were still in at the two-hour mark. By hour three, only 327 were yet to be caught by the Catcher Car and only the ultrarunners were left in the race, thrilling the spectators. By hour four, just 26 runners were left, warming us up for one of the most nail-biting finishes seen in a while.
The real drama unfolded just after the five-hour mark when the final three runners battled it. Ketema first passed Evgenii Glyva of Ukraine in their riveting duel along the Donau River Valley in Austria while some 11,000 kilometers away in Lima, Peru Remigio Huaman Quispe was his only rival still left in the race. Their virtual duel on two different continents sent television audiences and online viewers watching live into a state of frenzy. In the end, Ketema won the race, in a photo finish at 78km, by just 90 meters.