It is officially under ten months to go until the 2012 Olympics in London, and finishing touches are being put on various event venues in the run-up to the games. Just today the Olympic Stadium unveiled its track with a lap by World record holder and Paralympic gold medallist Dan Greaves, British Long Jump record holder Chris Tomlinson, and World Championships Bronze medallist Hannah England. Some schoolchildren joined them, but those kids won't be the last "regular people" to cross the finish line before the Olympians next summer...

There's going to be an Olympic Park Run on March 31, 2012 for 5,000 runners to run a 5-mile course ending in the Olympic finish line. It's not a crazy competition, either. Fun and sportsmanship is the name of the game, thus all levels of ability and all ages (over 16) are open to apply, as the runners will be chosen by National Lottery at the end of this month.

You have until October 27, 2011 to enter here. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-03T11:40:58-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/27/84753/5215

The day is already more than halfway over in London, and it's a special day to be sure. We're now one year away from the start of the London 2012 Olympics and one of the celebrations is up in the air. Literally.

Although we already showed you the Olympics-themed airplane livery of our (and Concorde's) dreams, reality is that British Airways unveiled their special Olympics livery today with a flight over Olympic Park on its way to New York. It's no Concorde; it's an Airbus A318, BA flight 001 between LCY and JFK (with a brief stop in Shannon, Ireland).

If you watch the video above, you'll realize that the only special thing they've done to this plane to give it some Olympics spirit was put "One Year To Go" on its belly, visible to those on the ground when it's flying low enough, but not visible when it's actually taxiing around airports. Too bad.]]> JetSetCD 2011-07-27T08:47:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/21/201757/518

It's almost exactly one year before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and what am I doing? Well, squeezing my butt into a wetsuit is the short answer, but the long answer is heading out on the manmade rapids that comprise the Lee Valley White Water Centre just outside of London, for a sampling of what the Olympians will be going through this time next year, and what the adventurous public can experience now.

Did you ever go to an amusement park with little rides for kids that involved a blue track of shallow water with a slow current that lazily propelled round floating rafts until time was up? The Lee Valley White Water Centre is that, for adults, times a zillion, with the addition of major adrenaline rush. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-07-26T12:14:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/21/115131/591
An integral part of a balanced Brit breakfast: the McBacon Roll

We will fully admit to having a favorite McDonald's location in London. It's a little one nearby the Marble Arch tube stop, and it sits on the historic location of infamous gallows used for 500 years...until the world decided to kill people with carbs instead of nooses.

As intriguing as this one is, London is about to get an even more controversial McDs in one year, for the occasion of the 2012 Olympic Games. According to the Guardian, the Olympics McDonald's will be appropriately Olympics-sized: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-07-21T12:08:55-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/19/162254/094

Oh man. We're totally on a roll with finding notable souvenirs this week. Today, in the aisles of a massive tourist shop in the aforementioned town of Llanfair PG, this struck our eye: a Concorde jet model, sporting London 2012 Olympics livery.

This is a unicorn. It is a fairytale, but without a happy ending for the simple fact that no one flies Concordes anymore, and definitely not British Airways, who otherwise could have made this awesome fantasy a reality probably 10 years ago...except London didn't have the Olympics then.

Pink and green...kind of cutesy colors for airplane livery. Regardless, she would have cut a fine line in the skies.

[Photo: Jaunted]]]> JetSetCD 2011-07-19T16:22:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/5/27/1287/29341

Ticket reservation results for the London 2012 Olympics came out today and we're pissed. Check your inbox; if you completed your ticket requests before April 22, through the official US ticket distributor CoSport, then you should know by now whether or not you'll be hitting the velodrome, Wembley Stadium, the Aquatics Centre or all three (and more) 427 days from now.

How did you fare? Hopefully better than we did. Going through the approved channels and putting in our request of many different sports at many different ticket pricing levels, only one event was confirmed. And it's (of course) the one we were least excited about! Here's an important question: why was our request for 1 ticket to Canoe Slalom (at a venue outside London, even) denied? It was the most random event we requested and still...no dice.

If you're looking to snag some tickets still, the chances are slimmer than ever, but at least there is a chance. Unsold tickets hit the block on Friday, June 24th, although they are only open to those who attempted to get tickets through CoSport. Maybe we've got a second chance at canoe slalom after all.

Curious to see some stats? We've got 'em: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-05-27T14:05:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/1/11219/54570

As all the ads on the Tube will tell you—the tickets for the London 2012 Olympics are on sale now and the period for registering for them will close April 26. Naturally the energy of the coming events is already in the air, along with the beginnings of Olympic regalia. St. Pancras International train station in the center of London recently hung the five Olympic rings from their iconic barrel ceiling, the first set of rings to go up in the city. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-04-01T11:21:09-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/