The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Sea of Santas fill Perth city centre in 5km dash
Participants of all shapes and sizes hit the streets for chosen causes
Perth became a sea of red and white as hundreds of Santas raced through the city centre.
Participants of all ages, shapes and sizes, wearing traditional festive suits, hats and beards, took part in Saturday’s eye-popping 5km dash.
The event, now one of the biggest staples of the city’s busy advent calendar, got under starter’s orders outside Perth Concert Hall.
Runners were welcomed at the starting point by Provost Dennis Melloy.
Everyone who took part received a medal, with further discounts on offer at local shops for anyone still wearing their Santa suit.
Library staff had spent weeks training for the run to raise money for their chosen charity the Perth and Kinross Foodbank.
The run coincided with the launch of a festive display at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Visitors are given the chance to explore Christmas in Perthshire through the ages, with a collection of photographs and artefacts.
The first people through the door were served with candy canes and mince pies.
Meanwhile, a group of four women, one man and his dog took part in the Santa Run to raise money for the Menopause Festival 2019, to be held in Perth in April.
Dr Laura Jarvie, of the Tayside Menopause Clinic, Rachel Weiss, Andy Sanwell, Helen Kemp and Heather Borderie, from the Menopause Café project, followed the NHS Couch to 5k programme to train for the run.
Rachel said: “For a hardy band of souls in Perth, there is nothing we would rather be doing on a Saturday than running around Perth City dressed in Santa suits complete with white beards, hats and the obligatory fairy lights.”
Crowds lined the streets to cheer on the Santas.
They galloped along Mill Street, High Street, across the Tay and around North Inch.