| Where: | Formerly at Newtown, Powys starting in the High Street |
| When: | Formerly a Sunday in late November or early December |
| Time: | Formerly at 10am |
A sea of Santas surged through the thronged streets of Newport in this charity fundraising event. Hundreds of competitors,all in red and white Santa costumes, raced over four-and-a-half miles on a flat and wheelchair friendly route, with a shorter version for children. Some were known to take hours to cross the finish line… The event was another of those grat ideas thought up in a pub and was a fixture in the calendar for a number of years with a few imitators around the country.
Helpful Hints.
I’ve been unable to find any current details of the Santa Run and have concluded it has lapsed. If you know any different please get in touch!
Click here for the event website : http://www.santarunnewtown.org.uk/
Photo by Iestyn Hughes.
View this location on the map.
Not sure when this was last updated but unfortunately it does no longer run anymore. After being the worlds first ‘official’ santa run in 2001, Newtown and Districts Dial a ride managed to give it national fame, with the help of a segment on blue peter and different news outlets, when it broke the world record for Most santa’s congregated in one place in 2004. (3,445 to be precise). Since then there has been hundreds of similar events pop up all over the country reducing the uniqueness of Newtown’s event to the point where it couldn’t generate the publicity needed to get enough runners. Would be fantastic for somebody to do a one off event like this again (15 year anniversary this year) but the work, time and effort put in by all involved through the 10 years it did run was phenomenal and vast. Would take a large team of very dedicated people to get it in place for a one off year.
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for getting in touch! I left the article on the site so that readers would know it doesn’t happen any more – and seems to have been off the schedule for a few years now. You’re right – there are quite a few scattered all around the country now, but it’s a shame this one didn’t keep going. You never know, somebody brave might take it on 🙂
If you hear any news of a revival, be sure to let me know and I’ll get it up on the site.
Best wishes,
Averil
can i do this i am 11
It would be fantastic if somebody did take it on. They could push the fact that it has a world record and with social media you never know what can happen! But if I hear anything I will definitely let you know 🙂
Matthew
is it going to hapen on zoom then yes or no
Hi Alex,
Sadly Newtown Santa Run hasn’t been current for years so it’s a “no” I’m afraid! You must have missed the info on the page that says it used to happen, but not any more.
Hope you find one on zoom,
Averil
Hi Alex,
Try searching the site on this link for any runs that are happening on zoom this year : http://www.santadash.co.uk
Hope you find one!
Averil
Link to my Video recorded from Blue Peter in 2005 featuring the Santa Run that December
https://youtu.be/iZsYn-XWRk0
Thanks for the link!
Averil