By William Coleman
Over the past two years Salop Leisure have gone the extra mile to push the Spirit of Christmas with the charity fundraising Salop Santa Dash as well as other Christms events. This year’s event has something a “little” special added to it.
Salop are expecting around 500 adults and children to dress up and take part in the Salop Santa Dash, on December 1st, to help raise money once again to help a charity in need at Christmas time.
This year the money raised off the back of this event, which now seems to be an annual event for the caravan and motorhome dealership, will go to support the work of Shrewsbury Town in the Community. The charity is independent of the football club, self-funded and needs to raise £1 million a year to deliver 39 different programmes for people of all ages in the community.
The Salop Santa Dash will see all participants, who have to be dresses and Father Christmas himself, take on a 5 kilometer course which covers the wonderful grounds of Salop Leisure as well as the company’s Love2Live fitness and wellness centre and Love2Stay resort, where the event starts and finishes. For those in OK shape should be able to tackle 5k in around 25-30 minutes on an exercise machine, but I’d be quite interested to see how a Santa outfit hinders performance.
Once the Christmas themed race is done there will be a medal waiting for all those who manage to cross the finish line. Those who take part will pay a small entry fee of just £12, this is the price for adults taking part and will include a Santa suit.
Salop are keen on getting as many people from different walks of life to take part and urge businesses and groups of friends to form teams for this year’s Dash in an effort to build a competitive edge.
What makes this 2019’s event different from its predecessor, which you can read about here, is the addition of the Salop Elf Dash. This race has been designed for for children under the age of 8 who will have a 1.1 kilometer course to run. This race costs just £6 per child and includes an elf outfit.
The first event was held back in 2017 and has so far raised and contributed a total of £2,500 to Severn Hospice and the Zac Oliver Appeal.
Salop Leisure’s marketing manager Ed Glover said: “We love to see families taking part together in the Salop Santa Dash and this year, children under the age of eight can choose to do the Salop Elf Dash.
“The Salop Santa Dash is a great opportunity for people of all abilities to get active and have some fun together. What better way for families and groups of friends and workmates to get in the festive spirit?
“It’s also a great opportunity for runners and spectators to see the fantastic facilities we have here at Salop Leisure, Love2Stay and Love2Live.”
Ceri Nicholls, Shrewsbury Town in the Community’s partnerships and events manager, said: “We have been working with Salop Leisure for more than three years and it’s great to strengthen the relationship further by being the chosen charity for the Salop Santa Dash.
“We are really looking forward to being part of the day and to raising funds for the charity.”
The Salop Santa Dash and Salop Elf Dash are part of The Salop Christmas Adventure, a series of events and attractions that promises to be better than ever this year For full details of the programme, visit www.salopchristmas.co.uk.
