This is one of my favorite races to do each holiday season. The combination of the Santa suit and running under the holiday lights is fantastic! Its also part of J&A Racing’s Triple Jog Dare.
Packet Pickup and Expo
I decided to pick up the packet on race day. I got there around 2:30 for a 4:30 race. I got my Santa suit, tshirt, and hung out for awhile.
Race Day Conditions/Attire
The temperature was around the mid-40s. I decided to wear running tights and a long sleeved shirt under my Santa suit. In retrospect, it was a little warm.
Pre Race
I got lined up in my corral about 15 minutes before the race. Last year, this race broke a world record for a santa run. This year, they weren’t trying to break the record, so there was a wider variety of holiday outfits. However, as you can see from this picture at the start line – there were still a lot of santas!
Race Time
The course was a little different this year, but the overall course was unchanged. We ran through about 20 blocks of lights on the boardwalk. It was a ton of fun, and I snapchatted the lights a lot of the way.
There were a lot of bars along the oceanfront having Christmas parties, and we saw lots of people in costume. Some of the santas from the run took a break from running to grab shots at the bars.
The 5 miles ticked off pretty quickly, even though I was walking instead of running. The race finishes inside the convention center, which is a ton of fun! I finished in 1:23:10.
After Party
I collected my medal for the race, and my medal for the Triple Job Dare (Wicked 10k, Norfolk Harbor 5k and Surf N Santa 5 miler). I wasn’t really interested in the soup they had or in the beer, so I just hit the road.
Did you do any holiday runs this year? Have you ever done a Santa run?