Stupid Thing #12 - Santa Jingle 5K

We saved the best for last.... I think the Santa Jingle 5K was our favourite event of the year! Shif and I and our friends Missy and Adrianne were among 2,400 Santas running a 5K through the chilly streets of Burlington, Ontario, last Saturday.

Santa Shif

Santa Missy gets a calf stretch

Just a few of the Santas at the start

Adrianne displays her new facial hair. The beards made
nice neck warmers, which was good considering it was -7°C
at the start.

The Santa suits were part of the race kit and you had to wear the suit to run. It was really fun to part of a herd of Santas. There were a few people out cheering us on (and probably a few very confused children). You heard lots of jokes like "catch that guy in front of you - the one in red".

Santas rolling up Maple Avenue

I decided toward the beginning that this was not going to be a terribly serious race for me (the fact that I had hardly run since the Turkey Trot may have had something to do with it). And the pictures taken in the middle of the race are evidence that I wasn't trying too hard. I did kick it in a bit over the last two kilometers. I still had a decent time, but this was the first 5K of the year where I didn't set a personal best. Shif was still in pursuit of her 30-minute race, but figured the cold and the Santa suit would probably keep from getting there. She managed to get pretty close, though - still under 31 minutes.


This was definitely one of the funnest events we did all year. The fact that we got a nice hot breakfast afterward helped! I think we'll definitely try to do this race again next year. We already have the suits, after all! We've also decided they'll be useful for future Halloweens if we want to go as a gang of Santas.

So, we're done! 12 stupid things are done (plus a few extras). I'll be back with a little wrap-up in a day or two.