Santa Canta!

​Saturday 4th December saw the return of the sparkling Santa Canta on Norton Common. It is held annually on the first Saturday in December and is in aid of North Herts Road Runners club charity of the year which in 2021 is the Garden House Hospice. With slippy conditions and cold temperatures, it was fabulous to see nearly every single runner turn out in their best fancy dress, from Father Christmas and Elves to Crackers and Presents.
2021 was also the first year of the Children’s Santa Canta which saw over 60 children take part. Following the main event they took on the, even-muddier-than-before, 1km course with true determination, and all completed the course with a fabulous festive spirit!
Both before and after tackling the two lap course people filled donation tins and very generously gave what they could to this amazing charity, with over £1200 donated and counting. Mince Pies and hot drinks made for a welcomed finish to the tough course, and it was fantastic to see local people coming together to support The Garden House Hospice who provide free, compassionate end of life care and support patients and their families in Letchworth and surrounding areas through incredibly difficult times. 
Event Organiser Richard Harbon said: ‘A really big thank you to you all. The Santa Canta was just brilliant.’
Paula Holm who took part dressed as an elf with friends exclaimed that the event was, ‘The most amount of fun. Friends, Fancy dress for a FANTASTIC cause!’. This is exactly what the event is about.
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Elsewhere, Sophie Thrussell and Ben Sewell headed to London for the RunThroughUK 10k and half marathon through Victoria Park. The 10k consisted of 2 laps whilst the half marathon saw Ben complete just over 4 laps. Sophie beat the 41 minute mark and came away with a smashing PB of 40 minutes 49 seconds, and Ben finished in 1hr 18minutes, beating his aim of finishing under 1hr 20 minutes.

Hinchingbrooke also had their own Christmas Canter which saw five squirrels take part. The idea of this race is to complete as many laps of the 5k course as you can between 9am and 4pm. Lucy O’Connor explained that the course is slightly undulating and scenic but very muddy in places which made it quite hard going. The sun did make appearance a few times but luckily the weather seemed to hold up nicely throughout the day. Brian Judkins completed two laps, Sue Foot did six laps and Anna Gibson, Richard Weber and Lucy completed 8 laps which resulted in them completing a full marathon.
Park Run was quieter this week with most of North Herts Road Runners busy at the Santa Canta, but we did have a few squirrels out and about representing the club. Julie Toland headed to Stevenage where she completed the course in 23:48. Lindsey Lucas was in lovely Norfolk where she took on the Holkham park run and finished in 36 minutes. And, Tom Webb took on the notoriously flat course of Great Denham where he finished in 16:14.  

​Written by Katie Harbon. 

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