On Sunday 3rd December thousands of Santa’s came together in the picturesque setting of Victoria Park to run, walk or dance their way round our 5K or 10k route. We had 130 charities represented on the day with the main beneficiaries of the event being Alzheimer’s Society, Mind, Magic Breakfast, Teenage Cancer Trust, MS Trust, Independent Age and UK Sepsis Trust – along with so many other amazing causes coming along to cheer on their brilliant supporters!
As more and more Santa’s began to arrive in Victoria Park and awaited the start of their challenge, they made good use of the extra festive touches we had this year. They jumped on Santa’s sleigh with friends and family, while posing for some Christmassy snaps, and we even had the REAL Santa on site too – with our participants making sure they popped in his grotto to say ‘ho ho ho’ to him.
We had our annual fancy dress competition and this year our runners went all out. From Christmas crackers to the Grinch – we had a real mix of entrants! Even our four-legged friends got well and truly into the festive spirit which was so great to see. Well done to everyone who entered – you looked glitter-TASTIC!! Our little Santa’s had their own 400m run and it was so much fun cheering them on as they jingled round to the finish line.
After an energetic warm-up at the start line, our Santa’s were ready and raring to go – it was such an unforgettable spectacle as thousands of Santa’s ran around the route! Once our runners reached the finish line, they were greeted with their well-deserved medal! We were so excited to reveal our brand new design to our Santa’s and everyone loved them. Free mince pies were also handed out to refuel everyone post-run and to add to the festivities of the day.
Take a look at the feedback and pictures from our amazing participants and learn about the incredible causes they were running for:
‘We raised money for the MS Trust as my hubby Andrew Dickey has this neurological condition. I ran with our daughters & we had a great time.’ Catherine Theresa Dickey
‘Me and my mum ran the 10k for Brain Tumour Research. We raised 500 pounds all together. I lost my dad and my mum lost her husband to a Gliomas this year in June. It was nice to get together with everyone and run as Santa’s. Lovely day and very enjoyable. It’s nice to know everyone’s helping out for charities.’ Lyndsey King
‘I’ve been raising money for the Anaphylaxis campaign over the last few months with races in U.K., US and France. Both myself and my daughter are Anaphylactic (for me fish, for her milk) so this is a cause very close to my heart.’ Martin Palmer
We would like to congratulate all of our charities and runners once again on their fantastic efforts, they have helped raise £1 million from this event which is absolutely incredible!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at Skyline.
