Hundreds of Santas pound streets of Louth to raise money for cancer charity

Storm Darragh threatened to sweep in raging winds and heavy rain. But instead, 400 runners, all dressed in red Santa outfits, swept in thousands of pounds for the Cancer Research UK charity through sponsorship.

"What a brilliant atmosphere!” declared Leanne Ball on Facebook. “Well done to all the organisers and volunteers.”

While Lorraine Bailes-Collins summed up the feelings of many of the volunteer runners by posting: “It was a wonderful event and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”

The ‘Santa special’ was a spin-off from the annual Run For Life events held in Louth every year, which have raised more than £800,000 for Cancer Research.

Louth Rotary Club joined forces to organise it with the Louth Run For Life team, whose chair, Simon West, said: “A massive thankyou to all who braved the weather to take part and those who came down to cheer on the Santas as they made their way around the course. The event was a great success.”

After picking up their Santa suit and race number, the runners could choose one of two town-centre routes of two kilometres or four kilometres, starting on the Market Place at 11 am.

People of all ages ran, jogged or even walked the course, supported by large crowds keen to get into the spirit of Christmas.

Among those dressed as Santa was Ross Carrick, from BBC Radio Lincolnshire, who hosted the event, supported by Rick Howell, of The Turk’s Head pub in Louth, who provided some festive music.

More than 40 people also volunteered to act as race marshals, keeping all the runners safe as they navigated the course.

That course was a traffic-free zone, with road closures in place between 10 am and 12.30 pm and diversion routes marked out to help ease any disruption for motorists.

The event was backed by a number of generous Louth-based businesses, who offered corporate sponsorship to cover the set-up costs. This meant that all the money raised from entry fees could go directly to the charity.

Meanwhile, comments of praise continue to pour in on the Louth For Life Facebook page, with Zoe Baumber saying: “It was so much fun. The atmosphere was perfect and very Christmassy. A big thankyou and looking forward to the next one. Ho, ho, ho!”

Check our our photo gallery below, which captures the fun of the Santa Run For Life event.