Santa Dash

For the 330 Santas taking part in the Railway Children’s Cheshire charity run on Sunday 20th December, there was no need to dream of a white Christmas. The snow began to fall just before the runners took to the start line for the first ever Railway Children Santa Dash, adding a touch of winter magic to the heart-warming event.

Big Brother winner Sophie Reade, X-Factor singer Marie-Clare Scott and Premiership footballer Ryan Shawcross lent us their support by attending the event. Sophie started the race to huge cheers from her hometown of Nantwich, and X-Factor singer Marie-Clare entertained the crowds with a live performance. The Mayor of Cheshire East, Cllr Margaret Simon, and the Mayor of Nantwich, Cllr Edith Williams, welcomed runners to the town and presented trophies to the winners.

The first male in the 2.5K race was 18-year-old Daniel Allcock from Wistaston in Crewe in nine minutes and 43 seconds. The first female was Natalia Mizzi from Middlewich who completed the race in 12 minutes and 44 seconds with her two children, Ceejay, aged 5, and Sashajay, aged 3. In the 5K race, first place male prize was awarded to Martin Packham of Stapeley, Nantwich, for 19 minutes and 36 seconds and the first placed female was Maggie Fenn of Winnington, Northwich in 21 minutes and 29 seconds.

With mince pies, mulled wine and an ice skating after the race, the whole event was full of Christmas cheer. And the best bit is that from sponsorship money and Santa Dash running fees, we are hoping to raise around £10,000 for Railway Children projects. We’ll let you know the final figure when all the sponsorship money has been collected.

All in all, the Santa Dash was such a huge success that we’re hoping to make it an annual event. We hope to see you there next Christmas!