Not a park run 2 — Dinton Santa Dash

We’re back now from holidays and what a difference a week makes — a 30 degree temperature drop when we arrived back in the UK, to the sight of snowy fields across southern Britain.

On the descent into London Heathrow

But what this did mean was that this years multi-generation family Santa Dash would have real snow, frozen lakes and frost as the back drop. And quite a sight it was.

The venue was Dinton Pastures (home of our local park run), with the Santa Dash start time of 11am nicely avoid a clash with the official weekly run. The event was organised by Ellie and team at Barnes Fitness with 2km and 5km run options. As everyone is dressed in red, and whilst single use clothing is not great for sustainability, we were all grateful for the extra layers.

Three generations of Wealds and Clinches

We had three generations participating — myself, Louise and her sister Sara as Tier 1, daughter Anna (of London Marathon fame) plus the three grandkids. This year was a step up for the youngest Faye, who a day after her ninth birthday tackled the 5km, after last year opting for the shorter distance.

And the weather made the start challenging to keep warm, given the sub zero temperatures. Suffice to say it was definitely a day for trail shoes, although this week didn’t involve scraping off copious amounts of mud following the run given the frozen surfaces.

How many Santa’s can you spot?

The start line was a sea of red as we made our way around the lake. We split into a faster group — with the eldest two kids — and a slower group with Auntie Sara proudly running with Faye.

Sara is also a park runner, with her local event in Cirencester, having only taken up running in her sixties. A perfect case study on the role that the PR community can play — it really is open to all ages and abilities. She was down visiting from Gloucestershire for the weekend, as part of a pre-Christmas family weekend. And whilst she doesn’t like the cold, she did agree afterwards — after a warm shower — that the event was worth doing. The power of FOMO!

Faye and Auntie Sara

Back to the run and within a couple of km the field started to spread out, making it easier for our faster family group of four to overtake others. Last year this event was Callum’s first ever 5km, and I had to use the football game* as a distraction technique in the final km. But this year he breezed round in 29 minutes, with plenty of energy left for a sprint finish.

*For those that don’t know, in the football game you score a goal for every runner you overtake, and lose a goal every time someone passes you. It’s great for forgetting about the process of running, particularly when you are start to struggle. It’s a great way of keeping concentration in the last mile of races, and I have also used it as a coaching technique many times over. Try it for yourself when you’re feeling tired in an event — it really works!

My family finishers group selfie

Once finished there were festive treats — including beer from a local brewery sponsor for the grown ups — whilst we waited for the others to come into view.

Grandma!

And it was fair to say that once you were moving then you warmed up nicely, with several runners including Louise shedding gloves before the finish.

And the other thing that makes Santa Dash special is a part of the entry fee goes to charity. This years event the beneficiary was First Days Children Charity who give choice, restore dignity and empower families who are living with a low income or are experiencing financial hardship. From the announcement over the PA over one thousand pounds was donated through the event, which at this time of year and given the cost of living crisis makes a difference.

And to finish off, if you would like to do something for charity then there’s always my parkrun Alphabet Challenge fund raising that you could donate to for British Heart Foundation. Happy Christmas.