Wings for Life: global charity run involves 7,000 participants in Kakheti

Thousands of participants ran in Georgia's east to raise funds for spinal cord research. Photo: Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia press office.
Agenda.ge, 07 May 2018 - 16:46, Tbilisi,Georgia

Four participants emerged as winners of the Wings for Life World Run under sunny weather in Georgia’s winemaking Kakheti province on Sunday.

Held as part of the global event, the Georgian edition of the public run was won among men by Aleksandr Cheburkin, who covered over 74.7 kilometres in his run.

Nina Zarina was first of women runners with a result of 48.4km, with Irma Zveriashvili and Merab Dukashvili claiming a victory for wheelchair participants.

The start for the World Run event in Kakheti on Sunday. Photo: Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia press office.

As many as 7,000 participants turned up at the starting line for the event in the vineyard-strewn setting of Kakheti, on the backdrop of the Caucasus mountain chain.

Among them were prized athletes including Georgia’s weightlifting Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze as well as Wheelchair Fencing World Cup winners Irma Khetsuriani and Nina Tibilashvili.

The roster of runners also featured winners of previous Wings for Life World Runs in Georgia and abroad, including Giorgi Shekrelidze, Sebastian Hallmann and Veysi Aslan.

Winners of the global World Runs will get to pick the location for next year’s event as a recognition of their achievements.

Participants socialise at a location selected for the charity in Georgia. Photo: Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia press office.

Held simultaneously in locations across the world, Wings for Life World Run events mark a charity effort to raise funds for spinal cord research at major institutions.

Instead of a traditional static finish line, competitors run for as long as they can along a designated route until they are passed by an advancing ‘catcher car’, at which point their race is over.

The final contestant to be passed by the car is crowned the winner, with results from local runners also qualifying for a global result list.

This year, Georgia hosted its edition of the run for the fifth time.