Posted on 15th Dec 2011 @ 11:58 AM

The festive season is a time for giving and goodwill, but it’s also a time for fun and downright silliness. This Christmas was no exception, as the brave, eccentric and mad took to the nation’s frozen towns and countryside for a range of fancy dress events across the country.

In the Manchester suburb of Rossendale, 132 runners took part in the annual Boxing Day fell race, the Whinberry Naze Dash. Many of those who braved the cold and snow to compete came in fancy dress, leading to the surreal sight of numerous Santas, pirates, superheroes, Jesus and the Pope sprinting through the frozen conditions.

One of the event’s organisers, Steve Duxbury, said, “It sounds a bizarre way to run off the excesses of Christmas Day but it’s a well established race on the fell running calendar and popular both with serious runners and those who enjoy a laugh in the festive season.”

The fancy dress fell running event was eventually won by an elf.
Over in Bolton meanwhile, Boxing Day revellers chose an altogether different approach to celebrating the festive season, as thousands flocked to the town centre in fancy dress. The Bolton Boxing Day fancy dress pub crawl is now in its third year, and saw an eclectic variety of costumed characters hitting the town’s pubs and nightclubs.