Marvel and the Superhero Series have joined forces to encourage disabled people to get moving again after research shows that 39% of people with disabilities did not do any physical activity during the pandemic.
The ‘Find Your Power Challenge’ takes place 29 May-05 June 2021 and each entrant will virtually race 100,000km from London to the Avengers’ Tower in New York and back. The one-off challenge is open to anyone with a disability as well as their family and friends.
Led by a group of celebrity captains to be announced, participants will be divided in five Marvel-themed teams and can take part however they choose, with no restrictions on equipment.
It comes after a study commissioned by Activity Alliance found that twice as many people with disabilities felt the pandemic greatly reduced their ability to do physical activity, compared with non-disabled people.
Superhero Series founder and Paralympian Sophia Warner, said: “We’re super excited to be able to reunite with Marvel to give our growing community another incentive to get active and kickstart new sporting passions. Marvel and Superhero Series share the same belief that everyone has their own unique powers, and we cannot wait to see them unleashed.”
Entrants are given the freedom to set their own tracked challenge and can use any type of ‘gadget or gismo’, from powerchairs and adaptive bikes, to canoes and rollerblades to achieve their mission. To ensure the challenge is 100% accessible, they can also choose from a range of sensory challenges, such as popping bubbles and fun food tasting tests, or invent their own. Each sensory achievement is simply converted into kilometres towards their mission and will be able to chart their team’s progress on a Super World Map portal.
All will each receive a Super Race Pack with a medal, T-shirt and finish line tape to celebrate those all-important finishing moments. To help remove any barriers to entry, Marvel is covering the cost of the Super Race Packs and participants will only be asked to cover packaging and postage to enter.
Sara Hanson, Director of Enterprise Social Responsibility, The Walt Disney Company EMEA, added: “Now more than ever Marvel hopes to inspire everyday Super Heroes to Find their Power. Through the power of our characters and storytelling we hope to welcome back previous Superhero Series participants, who perhaps may try something new for the event, and of course encourage more people to take part and join in the fun.”
The Superhero Series was launched on 19 August 2017 and is the UK’s only sports series dedicated to the nation’s 14.1 million people with disabilities of any kind (Everyday Superheroes) and their family and friends (Sidekicks). There are four annual events: Superhero Tri; At Home Superheroes; Winter Wonderwheels; an At Home Winter Wonderwheels.
To find out more and sign up for the Marvel Find your Power Challenge, head to www.superheroseries.co.uk
