Christmas in the Black Country

Through Walsall town centre

The 'Santas on the run' event was in aid of Acorn's Children's hospice which offers care to life-limited children.

Santas of all shapes and sizes braved the cold as they arrived in Gallery Square to take their positions on the starting line at 10.30am, following an earlier warm-up.

The fun run was officially started by the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Tom Ansell.

Participants were allowed to run, walk or jog the 2 km race which winded along Park Street, through the town centre and finishing back in Gallery Square. Marshals dressed in blue Santa costumes were in place to guide the fun runners along the right path.

Warming up

Shoppers cheered on as the Santas made their way through the town centre and back towards the finishing line. Each participant received a medal along with a goody bag courtesy for their efforts.

'Santas on the run' Michelle and Demi Marriner from Oldbury completed the race and proudly showed off their prizes.

Michelle, aged 33, said: "I have a friend who works for Acorns in Selly Oak and we've been and looked around the centre. It's a fantastic charity and they do so much work for children with life limited conditions and that is why we wanted to run the race."

Michelle's eleven-year-old daughter Demi added: "It was fun but very hard."

Michelle and Demi Marriner

The fun run was one of the events hosted by the hospice in order to raise funds to continue its existing service. The hospice also aims to raise £1 million before Christmas 2008 so it can begin piloting 'Acorns at Home'- its new hospice-at-home service in the New Year.

Events manager at Acorns, Kerrie Davies, said: "A massive thank you to everyone for taking part. It's wonderful to have all the amazing support and hopefully next year even more people will come along.

"It's been a really good day and everyone seems to have had a good time. With this and the Birmingham event, we are hoping it has raised more than £25,000. That is a great amount of money for Acorns as we so need that money to look after the children."

To read about more Christmas 2008 events in the Black Country, click the links below: