Paralympian Sophie Carrigill on the unmissable Wings for Life World Run – Red Bull

Paralympian Sophie Carrigill loves a challenge, which is why she can't wait to take part in next year's Wings for Life World Run on May 9, 2021.

The event isn't your average race. Instead of running from gun to tape, thousands of participants around the world all set off simultaneously and see how far they can get before the finish line catches up with them the finish line being a 'Catcher Car' which sets off 30 minutes after the race starts. Once overtaken, their race is over.

In 2020, the winner ran 69.92km in four hours and 12 minutes before getting caught.

The 2021 Wings for Life World Run will be an App Run, with a virtual Catcher Car allowing people to take part in a safe and convenient way. The App Run allows each participant to take part anywhere and be accompanied by an exciting audio experience as the virtual Catcher Car slowly speeds up to them and finishes their race.

Sophie, a Team GB wheelchair basketball player, says she is looking forward to putting her endurance to the test.

Raising awareness of spinal cord injury is hugely important to Sophie

Matthew Lewis / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

I am an active person and I like doing things that are going to challenge me," she says. "I think I will like the competitive element of trying to stay ahead of the car for as long as possible and being surrounded by other people doing the same. I don't have any targets except not to be caught up in the first hour!

Porsche racing driver and fitness freak Mark Webber shares his World Run training tips.

Porsche racing driver and fitness freak Mark Webber shares his World Run training tips.

As well as staying ahead of the Catcher Car, Sophie, from Leeds, admits she does actually have another target beating her boyfriend. She has encouraged Josh Landmann, a paratriathlete, to take part, but keeping ahead of him will be another challenge.

We will be competitive with each other but his training is more geared towards long distance so he will probably do better, she adds. My usual training is short, sharp intensity movements rather than endurance so this won't be easy for me.

A competitor at the Wings for Life World Run in Cambridge in 2016

Wings for Life World Run

My main reason for taking part is to support a charity that is trying to change the medical landscape, she says. There are a lot of good charities out there doing good things for people with disabilities but this one is trying to find a cure for people with spinal injuries, which would be amazing. If people can get on board and support it, the funds raised can transform people's lives.

Sophie, 26, says knowing about the work of the charity would have made a massive difference to her and her family when she was first coming to terms with her own life-changing condition 10 years ago.

When she was on holiday in the United States as a 16-year-old, she was involved in a car crash that left her paralysed from the waist down. The driver lost control and hit a tree after taking a bend too fast, leaving Sophie, who had been in the middle back seat, with catastrophic injuries. She suffered a broken back and a severed spinal cord, while her internal injuries included damage to her stomach, liver, and bowels.

The sport-loving teenager was placed in an induced coma while medics battled to save her life. When she regained consciousness, she was told the devastating news she would never be able to walk again.

This injury is life-changing. It is not just being unable to walk, it affects your bladder, your bowels, all those things. These are the issues that affect your quality of life. I was 16 when it happened and you are already all over the place at that age worrying about the future. It heightened those emotions and insecurities. I worried that I would never be attractive again and never be loved.

Knowing there was a cure would have helped me 10 years ago when I was first told about my injuries, Sophie explains. And it would have helped my family even more. I was cracking on thinking 'this is a permanent injury' but my family particularly my grandparents lived a lot in hope that I would walk again.

Despite her young age, Sophie dealt with her condition with awe-inspiring positivity and determination:

My mindset quite early on was, 'I just have to get on with this and do what I can with what I have got'. The support of family and friends helped me reach that point, plus [I'm a] get-up-and-go type of person. I knew people wanted to see me get better so that was one of my motivations. I put on a brave face for everyone around me and then there came a time I wasn't faking that anymore. I live such a fulfilled life now I am really happy.

A year after her accident, Sophie found basketball and hasn't looked back

Matthew Lewis / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

Selflessly, Sophie hopes a cure can be found to benefit others more than herself:

I have learnt to live with it now. I don't live in hope because otherwise I would be waiting for the phone to ring every day to be told there is a cure. I have to get on with it but that is not to say finding a cure isn't massively important. I could be cured if they could develop something that could be placed where my spinal cord break is that would send all the signals to my brain. That is what is stopping me from walking the signals aren't travelling between my legs and brain.

But for me, 10 years on, I think it would be harder for something like that to work as I have a lot of scar tissue built up," she adds. "But it could make a massive difference to someone who is newly injured and could have the treatment right away.

Sophie explains that sport played a major part in her recovery and positive mindset.

Before the accident I was one of those kids that just did everything; sport was the thing I was good at and came more naturally to me than academic subjects and I played netball, hockey and tennis. About a year after my accident, I picked it up again and found a local wheelchair basketball team. It seemed like the best fit for me having played team sports and especially netball before. It really helped me to meet other people with disabilities many of whom have become life-long friends as well as helping me progress in sport. It changed my mindset around disability and what is still possible.

She trained hard and earned a place on the British team at the Rio Paralympics 2016, finishing fourth in the competition. Next year, she will be in the squad at the postponed Tokyo Paralympics, where she hopes they can go one better and bring home a medal.

Sophie says the joy of the format is that anyone and everyone can get involved whatever their level of fitness.

All of the entry fees go to spinal cord research and Sophie hopes the event will raise awareness of the charity, as well as vital funds.

I think it is important for people to know more about spinal cord injuries," she says. "I often get people looking at me wondering why I am young and in a wheelchair. Making people more aware of that and what spinal cord injury is is really important. I hope lots of people will get involved as the funds raised can do amazing things for people's lives. And it will be a fun day!

Recent scientific developments have shown remarkable recovery in patients with spinal cord injuries. Three people share how this research is transforming lives and could one day deliver a cure.

How to plan your nutrition and hydration to ensure you perform at your best on race day.

Everything you need to know about taking part in the Wings for Life App Run in the UK on Sunday, May 9, 2021.

Recent scientific developments have shown remarkable recovery in patients with spinal cord injuries. Three people share how this research is transforming lives and could one day deliver a cure.

How to plan your nutrition and hydration to ensure you perform at your best on race day.

Everything you need to know about taking part in the Wings for Life App Run in the UK on Sunday, May 9, 2021.

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Paralympian Sophie Carrigill on the unmissable Wings for Life World Run - Red Bull