In a quest to find Great Britain’s ultimate Santa, organizers at Guinness World Records sponsored the first-ever Santathon in December 2001. The event included a field of eight top contenders donned in full beards, red suits, and black boots. Competitive events included sack hauling, pie eating, chimney climbing, stocking filling, and ho-ho-hoing. First prize was awarded to David Broughton-Davis, 43, from Croydon, a professional department store Santa.
Numerous contests of a similar nature take place around the world and we shall be covering those in the coming days. For example, in the category of most participants dressed as Santa in a road race the Guinness Book of World Record says that the largest Santa Claus run consists of 4,983 participants, and was achieved by the J&A Racing (USA) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, on 17 December 2016. The record was achieved at the annual Great Outdoor Provision Co. Surf-n-Santa 5 Miler.