Dublin was at the centre of the Social Media world last night when Red Bull launched its Wings for Life Run the World campaign using Google’s Foundry on Barrow Street as the venue for a launch on You Tube, RedBull.com and as a Google+ Hangout.
The new event will take place on May 4th 2014 and simultaneously bring 35 running events around the world together as a first of a kind shared experience to raise funds for spinal cord injury research.
The Irish leg will get under way around the Ring of Kerry at 11am with races at other iconic global venues getting started at the same time. This means an early start for those running in Los Angeles who will be getting going at 3am.
The race is interesting in that there is no single finish line. Instead a catch up car will leave from each of the 35 starts exactly 30 minutes after the runners have left. It will gradually accelerate and as it passes each runner they drop out at whatever distance they have managed to complete. The eventual global winner will be the last one standing as the 35 catch up cars real in all their international competitors.
International Race Director Colin Jackson was in town last night to do the launch and he estimated that the winner would probably get to somewhere around 80 kilometres. “And don’t worry, we have a big logistics team in place at every venue so when the car catches you, you won’t be left behind.”
His Irish Race equivalent is ultra marathon runner Richard Donovan who highlighted the fair chance Ireland has of producing a contender. “The track winds through fabulous mountain scenery but it’s actually quite flat itself so that should suit. Ireland came sixth at the most recent Ultra Marathon World Championships and a lot of our top runners are getting ready to take part in the Run for Life.
All the money raised through race entries will go directly to funding the search for advances in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
Red Bull set up the Wings for Life foundation after just such an injury affected the son of a friend of company founder Dietrich Mateschitz. Their reach was shown off last night as former red Bull Formula 1 driver David Coulthard joined the launch from Austria alongside space jumping daredevil Felix Baumgartner.
The real value in this event though is likely to come from such a wide range of collaboration across different media. The fact that last nights event was broadcast live across different internet channels showed what is possible and any search for Wings for Life on Google in Ireland will bring you straight to a link for the Kerry run.
The combination of location services, online media and traditional media – Game on 2FM broadcast live from Google last night as well with Bernard Brogan and Joe Canning, means that if you haven’t heard of the event, and perhaps been inspired by it within the next 100 days that you have probably been living in a cave.
It’s drawing in other commercial partners as well. “The idea is a great one for 53 degrees north as our mission is to bring the adventure and the outdoor life to everyone,” said the company’s Marketing and E-Commerce Manager Enda Barton. “The fact that people are being asked to run for those who can’t is a powerful message.”
We asked the final question of the night, why Ireland made the cut across a list of impressive worldwide destinations? The answer shot back that it was about the beautiful scenery, the friendliness and commitment of the people and a heritage for running. This is a race that will be run, watched and followed by millions across the globe. It is a wonderful advertisement for the mix of beauty and technology that Ireland is as we sail into the heart of 2014.
Run the World in Kerry
