Honda fielded a strong presence in Dun Laoghaire over the May Bank Holiday Weekend as proud vehicle sponsor of the Wings for Life World Run which took place around against the stunning backdrop of Ireland’s east coast on Sunday May 3rd.
Thousands ofIrish runners joined a host of well-known names on the start-line, all in aid of spinal cord injury research.Team Honda entered 40 runners in the race, including ambassadors Alison Canavan and Kilkenny Hurler Eoin Larkin. A fleet of Honda vehicles provided race support on the day as official vehicle partner, including in the most important role of all, the moving finish line!
The Irish event was part of a truly global event attracting over 100,000 people in 35 countries across many time zones and all four seasons, all running at exactly the same time.
The race had a unique format where there was no traditional finish line, instead the Honda CR-V acted as the moving finish line, pursuing athletes along the route. Runners got the chance to run a scenic route starting in Dun Laoghaire and heading south towards the Wicklow coast with the CR-V 'Catcher Car' chasing them down one by one which set off 30 minutes after the start, travelling at 15km/h.
The winners of the Irish race were David Sheehy who managed to outrun the Honda Catcher Car for 52.1km, and Orna Dilworth who stayed ahead for 39.2km before being caught by the Honda Catcher Car which was accelerating in speed by 1km for every hour of the race.
Honda entered a great team of runners into the race, including Honda Ambassadors model Alison Canavan and Kilkenny hurling star Eoin Larkin. Team Honda joined a host of Irish stars supporting the event including, Galway hurler Joe Canning, 2FM’s Keith Walsh and Irish Rugby player Simon Zebo.
In total, across the 35 countries and races, runners were also competing to be the global winner. This year, for the second year running, the leading man was LemaworkKetema of Ethiopia with a finishing distance of 79.9km, while the leading woman was Yuko Watanabe of Japan with 56.3km. Meanwhile in Brazil, last year’s Irish winner John O’Regan partnered visually-impaired athlete Sinead Kane to a 29.4km finish.
