Patrick Lavelle | Staff Writer
The ‘Wings for Life’ World Run 2014, the Irish stage of which was launched outside the Berkeley Library earlier this year by adventure athlete Mark Pollock, will take place on May 4. All proceeds from the race will go towards Wings for Life, a foundation that funds research into finding a cure for spinal cord injury (SCI).
Belfast-born Pollock, an alumnus of Trinity, was joined at the launch in January by Dublin football star Bernard Brogan, Galway hurler Joe Canning, Minister for Sport Leo Varadkar, Irish triathlon athlete Con Doherty, and model and presenter Daniella Moyles.
Pollock has dedicated himself to finding a cure for SCI since a fall from a second storey window in 2011 left him paralysed. Pollock became a ‘Wings for Life’ ambassador that same year and the charity is the main partner of the Mark Pollock Trust, which he established. Pollock has also been using pioneering robotic legs in Trinity’s Sport Centre, which allow him to walk for short sessions.
The World Run is particularly relevant to Pollock, who took part in many extreme races prior to his accident, including the Everest Marathon, the Irish Sea Kayak Challenge, and the North Pole Marathon. In 2009 he became the first visually impaired person to race to the South Pole.
Describing the event, Pollock said: “There are two parts to it: having a global run is great in terms of building awareness in the public consciousness and also doing something on this kind of scale where 200,000 people take part with 100% of the money going to research is superb.”
The Wings for Life World Run 2014 will take place on 4th May at 11am Irish time. At that time thousands of competitors from across the world will simultaneously run on up to 35 tracks worldwide from Santiago to Auckland. The Irish leg will take place in the Ring of Kerry where approximately 5000 people will compete, not only against each other, but also those taking part in the other 34 locations.
