Local runner Noah Allison dressed up as Santa Claus to bring joy and gifts to children in his community.
Allison began running as a way to cope after losing his father to cancer, but he turned it into something more. In the summer, he ran to Terrace and back as part of his Miles for Markus fundraiser. Last year, he organized a small Santa Run to give back, and it grew into a larger initiative this year, he said.
“I do this as another way to give back to the community. Growing up, my grandma was big into Christmas and always gave back to her community, friends and family, but extra during the holiday season. I always remember her and my Ma saying “every kid needs a Christmas.” So last year as I was brainstorming ideas for running challenges I decided to drop off some gifts to my 3 nephews. Then I decided to drop off gifts to a few of my co-workers kids too, and one thing led to another. Last year, we did 23 kilometres on foot, making 13 stops to 18 kids.”
This year Allison visited 30 kids across 21 stops. Allison made stops by request and took donations so that every kid he visited could have a happy holiday season. The emotions when the kids received their gifts made it all worth it, said Allison.
“The range of emotions was incredible, from genuine joy, to confusion, to downright fear. Some kids freaked out like I was Santa, some cried, and some wondered what uncle Noah was doing. One universal thing that truly made it all worth it and made me want to do it again was the emotions of the parents. The thanks and genuine appreciation from them is what made it really worth it.”
