I first heard about the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity ‘Santa Dash’ event when I took part in their ‘Race for The Kids’ 5K in October.
The Race for The Kids goody bags contained flyers about the Santa Dash and I was immediately interested. I love the Race for The Kids 5K and am a huge supporter of Great Ormond Street Hospital. The Santa Dash 5K sounded like great fun and was something I’d never done before. The £20 entry fee included a Santa outfit, bespoke medal, mulled wine and mince pie. Perfect! I signed up online with mum and we received our race packs a few weeks before the event.
So on Sunday 9th December we caught the 8:30 train and a tube to Clapham Common. The event was clearly sign-posted and easy to find; and with the run starting at 11am, there was time to explore the Event Village, which contained a merchandise stall, information tent, numerous food and beverage stands, and more. There was a sea of Santa runners, and the atmosphere was lovely! A giant Instagram frame was being carried around for photos, and free bottles of water were being handed out.
The weather was surprisingly warm, almost muggy, and dry. I wore Ivy Park leggings with a support bra/vest top all-in-one under a long-sleeve USA Pro base layer, plus black trainer socks with Brooks Ghost 10 trainers. The Santa suit was enormous – you could have fit two or three of me in there! – so I held it up with my own belt and then the Santa suit belt. My bum-bag contained the essentials: keys, phone, debit card, lip-balm, mints, tissues!
The Start Line was well-organised and a funny, motivating Santa MC kept everyone entertained. The route was a pretty, flat 5K route around Clapham Common. There were a few muddy patches from previous rainfall, but nothing concerning. Runners were set off in waves to avoid congestion, which worked well, and we weren’t bottle-necked at any point despite the amount of participants. The marshals were super motivating and encouraging, which was lovely.
The Finish area was lined with cheering supporters, and a bespoke medal was hung around our necks as we crossed the line. Volunteers handed out tokens which could be exchanged for a mince pie and (generous, strong!) mulled wine inside a marquee tent.
Overall, we loved this event. It was really good fun and definitely something different to do on a Sunday morning! No doubt we’ll take part again next year 🙂
Laura's footprints 