Liverpool Santa Dash: Thousands take part as event returns

The red and blue Santa suits reflected the city's football clubs

About 5,000 people ran through Liverpool as the city's Santa Dash staged a return.

Believed to be the country's biggest festive 5K run, the event was held for the first time since the pandemic.

Liverpool's Santa Dash returned after it was cancelled in 2020 due to coronavirus

Participants, who wore red and blue Santa suits, were raising money for the city's Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

All you need is love... and good running shoes, as the race started near The Beatles statue

Four-year-old patient Betty, who spent 13 months at the hospital after being born at 23 weeks, officially started the event.

She was joined by former Liverpool footballer and pundit Jamie Carragher, who was treated for the first six weeks of his life in Alder Hey's neonatal ward.

Betty's mother Karen said participants were helping to "make it possible for families to be together and in the safest of hands".

Santa's little canine helper was on hand for some runners...

... while others chose to carry inflatable dinosaurs outside the Museum of Liverpool

Participants went past landmark locations including Liverpool's Pier Head

Picture credits: Jason Roberts/PA Wire

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