25 November 2018

• More than 250 runners participate in 2018 Family Fun Runway Run races
• Event marks the launch of this year’s Sydney Airport Community Christmas Giving Appeal in support of Cure Cancer
• Last year’s six-week Appeal raised more than $400,000 to help Cure Cancer continue its fight against all forms of cancer

More than 250 members of the community have sprinted down one of Sydney Airport’s iconic runways to help raise money for life-saving cancer research.

Donning Santa hats and Cure Cancer running singlets to help spread Christmas cheer and a message of hope, runners competed in a series of races along the east-west runway.

For the first time, the Runway Run was expanded to include a day of special entertainment, food and a host of other fun family activities - including a visit from Santa himself.

The Family Fun Runway Run also officially kicked off this year’s Sydney Airport Community Christmas Giving Appeal. Over the next six weeks, the Appeal will raise both awareness and funds to support Cure Cancer and the nation’s brightest emerging researchers in their fight against cancer.

Over the past six years, the campaign has raised more than $1.4 million for charity. Through the generosity of the airport community and travelling public, last year’s appeal funded a two-year research project into childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert congratulated everyone who participated in today’s Runway Run and thanked the community for its continued generosity.

“Standing on the runway is always an incredible experience – but even more so on a day like this when you’re surrounded by families and community members rallying together for a great cause,” he said.

“It was truly wonderful to watch the excitement grow at the starting line of this year’s Runway Run and I hope everyone walked away with an unforgettable experience.

“Cure Cancer does such vital and important work and we’re proud to support them through both our Family Fun Runway Run and our Community Christmas Giving Appeal. There are still plenty of ways for everyone to get involved in this year’s Appeal and we look forward to joining together with the broader community and travelling public to help Cure Cancer continue their fight against cancer.”

Cure Cancer CEO Nikki Kinloch said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Sydney Airport for the Community Christmas Giving Appeal for the second year running.

“Seeing our communities come together in support of Cure Cancer at today’s Runway Run was incredibly heartwarming, and we are very much looking forward to working together over the next six weeks at Terminals 1, 2 and 3.

“The appeal offers an unparalleled opportunity to raise crucial funds and awareness of the funding needed for early career cancer researchers. We hope that together, we can make this year’s campaign our most successful to date, providing vital support to our young, talented researchers who dedicate their lives to making this the last generation to die from cancer.”

Sydney Airport and Cure Cancer also thanked SNP Security, Assetlink, Heinemann, American Airlines, Virgin Australia, Airport Link, Hamilton Island, NAB, Hotel Komune, Sightline, Kitchen By Mike, Mantra Group, Rydges and Sydney HeliTours, among others, for supporting this year’s Family Fun Runway Run.

Additional activities

Over the course of the six-week Sydney Airport Community Christmas Giving Appeal, Cure Cancer will also be running a series of exciting activities at the airport, including a giant Santa Selfie Bauble in T1 and a Santa Selfie Booth in T2.

These fun, family-friendly installations allow anyone to snap a selfie with the Cure Cancer Santa, which can then be shared across social media to spread a festive message of hope in the fight against cancer. The appeal also includes opportunities to donate in-terminal via coin-collection volunteers, Rotary bins and through Tap to Donate machines at participating retailers.

Cure Cancer will also be hosting a 12 Days of Christmas Silent Auction, launching via curecancer.com.au on Saturday, 1 December. There will be a range of prizes available to bid on, with all funds raised going towards innovative cancer research.