The logo of the World Airline Road Race featuring a globe of the world surrounded by a laurel wreath.

World Airline Road Race Festival London 2010

The event logo of the World Airline Road Race 2010 London featuring a running shoe whose lace forms the course of the river Thames over well known London landmarks

Latest News

21st September

Final update before the Festival.  Online signup will cease on September 22nd with no local signup possible.  No signup = No registration =  No number = No race.

4th September

Details added of the other events happening during the WARR week.  See other activities for details of the 1985 WARR reunion, Kayaking in the Thames and Dock and the Orienteering Run and Quiz.

23rd August

Details including times have been added to the Festival Schedules page. Details are now available on the eleven restaurants at the T Shirt Party.  Also the latest and last Newsletter has been published.

16th August

Both Festival and Awards signup are still open but we are monitoring every week for when we'll have to close one or both.  We may not be able to give much of a warning before we close so if you or colleagues are yet to signup then you are best advised to do so soon.

August '10

Not much of a surprise - the hotels are filling up!  The IBIS have told us that they have no availability left for the Festival Week.  Other hotels are taking significant numbers of bookings and are particularly busy on Wednesday 22nd but generally there are still plenty of rooms available.  If you want a wider choice then visit the VisitLondon website VisitLondonDocklandsHotels (opens new window).

July '10

Busy times!  We already have more WARRiors booked than competed in Hangzhou or Ottawa - and the festival is still ten weeks away.

 

The T Shirt Party will be held in Leadenhall Market.  Go to the T Shirt Party page for details. The 10k race is scheduled to start at 11am on the Saturday - so you'll be able to enjoy the T Shirt Party a little bit longer this year.

 

The Awards Party will be held in the Fox@ExCeL. A page will be added here when more details are confirmed.

 

The race course has been accurately measured by Hugh Jones. Hugh Jones was one of England's top long distance runners in the '80s.  He probably rates his winning of the London Marathon in 1982 as his greatest achievement. The previous year in 1981 he came third in the New York Marathon in a time of 2:10:59 but his Wikipedia entry has a footnote to it that points out that that year's New York Marathon course was later discovered to be 150 meters short.  Hugh Jones is now one of Britain's experts in the science of course measurement.  You can be confident that when Hugh says you've run 5k or 10k then that will be the distance that you have run.

June '10

The race has now been registered with UK Athletics - the country's governing body for athletics.  We are also taking other measures to ensure a great race - we are busy measuring the course to ensure accurate 5k and 10k distances.

 

We are also busy ensuring that we'll have enough volunteers and marshals. If you or one of your party would prefer to help marshal the race rather than run then email us at volunteer@warrlondon.com and we'll add you to the list.

 

On the WARRiors help page there is a new promotional leaflet with details of the festival and maps and more.  Please print some of these off and leave them in crew rooms or on notice boards.

May '10

Bookings are coming in and further details are being firmed up and will be confirmed shortly.  The Novotel Race HQ early bird rate finishes at the end of the month with the room rate going up thereafter.  So act now or pay more!

 

Newsletter number 4 is now out - a copy is in the Newsletters section.  Some people on the list may not have received this one electronically due to a "spam" related distribution problem.  If you spot the Newsletter in your "spam" or "junk" lists then please move it to your in tray or flag it as "not spam".

 

Did you come to the first London World Airline Road Race back in 1985?  If you did then we would like to hear from you to plan a 25 year anniversary within the race week.  e-mail John Williams at 25years@warrlondon.com with your intention to come and any ideas on dates and formats.

Easter '10:

Busy times - the Festival is now open for signup!  Visit the International Website to make your booking.
 

The Race Headquarters has been announced as the ideally located Novotel Hotel London ExCeL.  See the "Arrangements / Hotels" page for details.
 

Amadeus has joined in the Festival! They are this year's Gold Sponsor.  Amadeus is the leading provider of IT solutions to our tourism and travel industry.  Further details are provided in the "Supporters / Amadeus" page.
 

Also there is a poster and a new leaflet in the "Supporters / WARRior Help Wanted" page.  These can be printed out and made available to colleagues.

March '10:

It may appear that the London Committee has been quiet since January but in truth it has been anything but quiet round here.  We've been very busy lining up the hotels for you to stay in, finding out all of the costs that need to be covered, confirming the sponsors and supporters and making the arrangements for you to sign up to the event.  Our aim is to allow signup from the start of April so that you can make your plans over Easter.  Note though that because the majority of WARRiors don't signup more than six months out we are not going to make any hasty decisions - so don't be upset if it takes us a little longer before we declare the signup open.  The next newsletter will be issued when we are ready.

February '10:

Willie Walsh, British Airways' Chief Executive, has confirmed his endorsement of this year's event.  He has also written the date in his personal diary.

January '10:

The London location for the World Airline Road Race 2010 has now been announced and will be around The Royal Victoria Dock in the Docklands area of East London.  The land around the dock will be used for the race course.  This same venue was used in 2009 for the 10k race and other disciplines of the International London Triathlon and will be used again for the 2010 event.  There are various hotels adjacent to the site and details of these will be announced through the Newsletter and on this site in February or early March.  Most other Festival venues will be nearby.  For further details of The Royal Victoria Dock site visit the relevant pages under "The Festival" tab.

New Year '10:

"Happy New Year everyone" - 2010 should be a great year for us all!  Especially for Erwin Aichinger of Air Canada who was first out of the hat with the correct answer to the crossword competition.  The solved puzzle and the answer to the question posed can be accessed from the "Crossword Competition" page under "News, Views and Fun". 

Christmas '09

As you enjoy the Christmas Festivities your thoughts will no doubt turn to next year.  Plans for the World Airline Road Race Festival remain focused on 25th September 2010. The BA team are putting the details together and our aim is to be able to announce the London setting in January.  The announcement will be through the January Newsletter and an update to this site.

We are talking to various hotels with the intention of proposing a varied selection that will be convenient for all the festival venues.  We should be able to publish the list in February or early March.  In March or April you can expect details of the race entry process along with updates on travel arrangements, things to do in London and other details and ideas.

 

Last Saturday I was honoured, on behalf of the BA team, to be presented with an award from the KLM running club.  This was their "Anticipation" trophy given for what we could achieve in 2010.  My thought is that if President Obama can get an award for what he might do for peace then it is appropriate that we should get an award for what we might do for WARR!

 

Finally - I hope that you all stay fit throughout the Christmas period and that next year is a most memorable one for us all!

Dec '09:

Announcing our initial sponsors - start-up funds have been provided by the British Airways Athletics Club and from The Qantas Running Club.  Contributions from other family members would also be welcome.  The event is expected to pay its way but these start-up funds provide confidence, financial stability and enables the payment of deposits on venues and services.  Next October we would expect to be in the position to pass on these funds to the next WARR host. 

Nov '09:

The first Newsletter is out.  Please see the Newsletter page to download an electronic copy and for details of the distribution list it has been sent to.  Please distribute the Newsletter to anyone who might be interested and, if you have a suitable notice board, then please print a copy and hang it up.

Oct '09:

We are delighted to announce the selection of an event charity in Dreamflight.  Dreamflight provides holidays of a lifetime for seriously ill and disabled children.  More details on the Supporters page here.

Sept '09:

During the Hangzhou World Airline Road Race the British Airways Team was delighted to announce the race day date for the 29th World Airline Road Race Festival as Saturday 25th September 2010. 

 

You can book your leave now!

 

Further details, including the race venue, will be announced at a later date.

Aug '09:

Half of the team are currently packing their bags for China and are looking forward to the 28th World Airline Road Race in Hangzhou - not to mention side-trips to see the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army to name just two of China's must-see sites.

 

The rest of the team are staying behind in the UK and will continue to work on securing the deals that will make the 2010 World Airline Road Race just as much a success as this year's should be.