Santa-monium

Virginia Beach decided they wanted to break the record for the largest Santa run, that is, most people running a race dressed as Santa, and unfortunately, I heard about it.

Jenna at 9Round told me about this run. Five mile run along the boardwalk and we're provided a five piece Santa suit. Five piece. There are five pieces in the suit and the suit has five pieces. This is something drilled into us from the beginning like a Marine talking about his rifle.

So, I signed up, The race started at 4:30 PM on a Saturday and packet pickup at the expo in the convention center was either Friday after 4 or Saturday after 12 noon. I got to the expo after 2:30 PM Saturday. I had front door parking and only have a couple hours to kill.

I chatted with someone on the way in who is a member of a Newport News running club and also getting over a cold. It was interesting to see a member of a running club running stag. I have a hard time dealing with running alone but truth be told, we all run alone. It's just a matter of who you see before and after.

I got my suit and other things. It's not an heirloom sort of suit. I'll not pass this suit down to any progeny who pop up later in life, covered in tattoos and deep in debt. No, it's pretty much good for one run, one Christmas.

The alterations table may have been the most fun place of the night. Everyone had ideas and everyone was helpful. One woman in particular helped everyone, including me. It was her idea to tape the cheap ribbon belt, pin the sleeves and the coat. I pinned the pants to the coat and that helped hold the ensemble together but meant I had no options during the run.

I killed some time and and took a few pictures and did a bit of shopping. I listened to the constant reminders that we must star the race with five pieces (pants, coat, belt, beard, and hat) and finish the race with five pieces in order to be eligible for the world's record.

A about 4:15PM we started to file out to the start line. It wasn't crowded but I was early. The mayor was there, reminding us that we must start and finish the race with five pieces of the costume, and the National Anthem was fantastic. It was slightly modified to remind us that we must start and finish with five pieces of Santa swag, but still brought a tear.

The run was five mile. Hence, the Surfin' Santa 5 miler. It was warm but not uncomfortable. I kept the beard on for the first mile, and after that it tried far too hard to get in to my lungs. I pulled it down, which is allowed, but the wind kept blowing it into my nose and mouth. After the first couple of miles I warmed up and it wasn't so bad.

Jenna, my 9Round Meg, ran about a 50 second mile faster than me. Good thing since she's in fantastic shape and 15 years my junior. But, the main thing is we each ran in groups of relatively serious runners. When I spoke to her after, we both noticed a a lot of runners in actual running clothes. Really? This is a Santa run and wearing the crappy costume means you can be in the Guinness Book to World Frigging Records! So someone decided they want to go for a personal record.. This fat Santa, the skinny Meg Santas would loving nothing more than to trip those "serious" runners. Long story short, wear the suit! Kids at Christmas are not out after dark, lined up along the boardwalk to see some dude sporting Nike compression shorts. Rant over.

The run along the boardwalk was lovely. The lights were on, evening if it wasn't quite dark. Jenna and I both thought it would be better to be in the slower group, so we could see the lights in the dark.

I felt like five miles wasn't too tough and, in the end, I was right. Trouble is, the first mile or two of any run sucks. After that it's not too bad. I had plenty left at the end to enjoy the free beer and soup. I only had one beer, I was driving, but the soup hit the spot,.

I stopped by 9Round to see if I knew anyone but no, The band at the end was good and it looked like a great after party. But, the groups all seemed to find each other and I was a group of one. So I decided to find my way home to my whirlpool tub and Epsom salts.

I'll do it again next year. I'l try harder to get friends involved but in spite of pretty lousy advertising we broke the record and are now in the Guinness Book as the largest Santa run at 5025 official, five piece Santas.