“No Santa left behind,” is the motto Stephanie Beucler’s team is running with as participants of the HoHoHoliday 5K next week.
On Dec. 7, the OTF Guelph Santas will be donning Santa suits as they run through the Westminster Woods neighbourhood at 7 a.m. It’s all part of the fun for the HoHoHolidays 5K, a Canada and U.S. wide virtual run. People can choose to complete their run or walk anytime between Dec. 1 to 31. Roughly 10,000 people across the country participate in the HoHoHoliday 5K.
For the Canadian run, money raised will go to Make-A-Wish Canada. The charity hits close to home for the team of about 15 since some have been in the position to have a wish be granted for their children going through cancer. “For them, I think it was just such a memorable experience, and it's just such a great opportunity to be able to provide that to children and their families who have gone through such a hard time,” said Beucler.
This is the third time OTF Guelph Santas will be participating in the run and their goal is to raise $1,000.
This will be the first time the team is doing the run outside. They met through going to the same gym and in the last two years hopped on treadmills to participate. “We're the early morning crew. As I always like to say, you don't show up at five o'clock in the morning just to mess around,” said Beucler.
The crew inspires each other to keep pursuing their fitness goals and some have gone on to run marathons.
While the Santa suits can be difficult to run in, the team makes sure to adjust their single-sized suits to fit.
“It's an absolute riot. We just love doing it. We talk about it all throughout the year. Can't wait to do it again the following year,” said Beucler.
The excitement is building but a few people are nervous about running through a neighbourhood because they don’t want to be the last to finish. Everyone is there to encourage each other and stick together. They will all be scoring personal records since they haven’t run in Santa suits outside before.
The run is part of how Beucler starts the holiday season. At the gym she goes to, during first week of December there are workout themes that coincide with holiday spirit and gym-goers wear things like festive socks.
For Beucler, she’ll be running 8K on Dec. 7 since she will also be participating in the 3K Santa Run ahead of the Guelph Community Santa Parade with her children Curtis and Jemma.
“They are very excited. They have seen my metal rack from all of the races that I've done, started a little collection of their own, and they're just always excited for an opportunity to add to that,” she said.
She’s looking forward to her children popping out of the house to cheer her and the OTF Guelph Santas on as they go through the route for the HoHoHoliday 5K.
The team is hoping to draw people in on the race as they go past and have early morning dog walkers think “what the heck is going on over there?”
