I ran in the Wings for Life World Run this past Sunday. There were 77,103 of us in 104 countries around the world, each alone due to prudent social distancing, but all together for the cause of raising money for spinal cord injury research. We raised $3 million for SCI Research!

This is a cool race. First off, everybody starts at the exact same time. 1 p.m. in Paris, 7 p.m. in Beijing. Here on the West Coast, that’s 4 a.m., dark and solitary.

The other thing about the World Run is that you don’t race toward a finish line, you run away from the line as it comes at you from behind. The catcher car! You get a head start then the virtual car comes at you a bit faster than you’re running. The car has a voice, delivering slightly ominous announcements as it catches up.

I made it almost 10 km before being passed. That was top three in the US for my age group (small sample size), but really middling compared to the best runners, who got closer to 70 km – that’s 43 miles! 

The World Run is a bit unusual even in usual times. That’s what makes it fun.

But of course not much is usual now – for Wings for Life or any other charity -- including Unite 2 Fight Paralysis. 

So please, on the occasion of this #GivingTuesdayNow, support our good work, even a small donation, to keep us on track to find therapies for spinal cord injury.