Run Rudolph! Santas jog offho-ho-home!

Thousands of people gathered in Southsea’s Castle Field for the annual event.

Families, couples and even dogs came along for the event — which was split into one mile, 5km and 10km races.

People dressed up as Father Christmas, elves and reindeer – with one group even bringing a sleigh – all in support of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Darren Mccloud, 52 from Stamshaw said: ‘I have been doing this for eight years.

‘I turned to exercise for health reasons and haven’t stopped since.

‘I’ve done all three events – the exercise is a lifestyle change for me now.

‘There are so many running events in Portsmouth now, which is great.’

Kevin Dagnell, 43 from Fareham, said: ‘I’ll be honest, I took part purely so I could run round as Santa all day long.

‘Today was the first time I had worn the outfit and I ended up ripping a hole in it before I even started running.

‘This was something that I was really looking forward to, so today was absolutely fantastic.’

Kirsty Fowler, from Purbrook, said:’There is always a brilliant community spirit around the Santa Fun Run, which is great.

‘This is something that I have been looking forward to a lot, and not only do you feel great crossing the finish line but it’s all for a good cause too.

‘I think there will probably be quite a few hot chocolates going round shortly though.’

Her friend Tracey Hall said: ‘I really like how there is such a friendly atmosphere here today.

‘We do tend to run quite a bit actually, and it was good weather for it.’

n Watch out for more pictures from the Santa Fun Run in The News this week