LH Yeung.net Blog - AniGames

Events

Santa Dash 2009

On Sunday morning, over 4000 people dressed up in Santa costumes gathered together at Glasgow's George Square for the annual fund raising Santa Dash event and I went along to watch for the first time.

Santa Dash 2009, Glasgow

I arrived in town at around 8:30am because of the sparse number of buses on a Sunday. I passed by a number of patrol cars that were already re-directing traffic off the main roads.

Noise must have woken up the residents!

It was cold and foggy but that didn't stop the participant's enthusiasm. I wonder if the local residents here which you can see peeping out of the windows got woken up from their lie-ins?

Bit of warming up.

Warm up just before the 5000m run which was due to start at 9:30am.

Time to get into groups.

Then it was time to get ready. Participants were divided into three groups because there were so many, they had to start at different times.

Ready... Well, almost.

I didn't quite catch what the problem was but the run didn't start until 9:50am.

And they're off!

And they're off!

Nice jester hat!

You can spot some creativity with the hats here.

I spy a Santarina.

It was an event anyone could join in - You pay £15 for adults and £5 for children beforehand. Costume included in the price.

Someone's running with style.

I wonder how hot it gets running in the full costume even though it's winter.

Is she waving?

Another creative hat!

Sisters hand-in-hand - I think.

And prams too!

These kids are really enjoying themselves.

Even the doggies had their own little festive clothing.

Even doggies get a costume.

Not sure what the exact route was but it went towards Nelson Mandela Place...

Over to Nelson Mandela Place.

Down Buchanan Street...

Down Buchanan Street.

Followed by an uphill run which can lead to Glasgow University. Patrols were following close by in case there were any problems of course.

Santa and Santarinas stretching into the distance.

Then it was back to George Square.

Another dog with a cute festive coat on.

More doggies in festive clothing.

Cross the finishing line.

Gliding through the finish line.

Commentator greeting them.

Mascot in Celtic strip in the back...?

Finish!

Someone's glad they finished the course!

More happy people finishing.

Back to the warm-up spot where the participants could collect their goody bags which included a banana to help recover energy and tiredness after intense exercise. Some people didn't know that of course and just threw it away, laughing.

Can you spy the guy with the glasses shaped with the letters, '2009'?

Tired Santas and Santarinas recovering.

It was around 11 o'clock when the last few runners returned and it was time to clean up.

Event finishes.

It was a great sight watching so many people in festive costume gathered together and the red colours flowing through the streets!

Couldn't really capture the scale of the event very well because I couldn't find a place to stand. Actually got pulled down while standing up on a wall because they were worried I might get a nasty fall ^^;

My slow f/3.5 lens isn't really suited to shooting action shots... Most of them turned out too blurred to be useable. I need to save up for a faster f/2.8 standard zoom lens if I plan to take any more such photos in the future.

Why not take a break?

Please supply your e-mail if you don't mind me contacting you. It will not be shown publicly and will not be given to spam- I mean marketing companies.

Avatars can be registered and uploaded via the global Gravatar.com which is used widely with many sites.

*Comment
*Name
Email
Site
Captcha What is 1 + 2?
 
#1

Xcomp Author


Hmmm, nope. I prefer normal quiet runs in the morning ^^;

Reply

#2

Maaya


Did you participate in the running before?

Reply