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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Luke O'Reilly

Victoria Park Santa Run: Thousands take part in charity Christmas race in London

Thousands of people dressed as Santa Claus took part in a charity run around London's Victoria Park.

About 3,000 people entered this year's London Santa Run to raise money for various charities on Sunday morning.

The annual event, which is now in its 10th year, encouraged people to swap their usual running gear for a red coat, jaunty bobble hat, and white beard, before taking part in either a 5k or 10k course around the east London park.

After completing the route, tired runners were treated to free mince pies and an official souvenir medal for their efforts.

They hope to raise between £500,000 and £1 million (Reuters)

Organisers Skyline Events said they hope to raise between £500,000 and £1 million for about 65 charities represented on the day.

Save the Children was the 2019 headline charity, but participants could choose to support a variety of other organisations.

Runners were treated to free mince pies (Reuters)

Siobhan Dillon, spokesperson for Skyline Events, said: "Seeing 3,000 Santas in Victoria Park is a pretty mad sight. It's the biggest one yet, which is pretty incredible.

"Before everyone set off, we had a couple of elves on stage helping with the warm-up, and then at the end we had Christmas carols playing and mince pies for everyone.

"It was really good fun and it gets everyone into the Christmas spirit."

The run coincided with another annual Santa dash held up in Glasgow, Scotland, which saw more than 7,000 people take part.

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