Christmas got off to a running start with Santa dashes yesterday attracting hundreds of runners.

Thousands of pounds were raised for a number of good causes at the runs held in Leicester and Loughborough.

In Victoria Park, Leicester, a mass of red and white set off at 10.30am, all running to raise cash for When You Wish Upon a Star, which takes children to Lapland each December to meet the real Santa.

Here is a video of the event sent to us by Leigh Spencer:

Among more than 200 people taking part in the Great Leicester Santa Run was Mark Turner, for whom the run was a return to fitness after a heart attack.

Mark, 41, from Groby, said: "I had a heart attack about 18 weeks ago so this was all about finally getting back to fitness.

"My doctor was happy for me to do it and my cardio rehab trainer was actually doing the run too.

"It went very well and it was very exciting. It really got me in the Christmas spirit."

Mark ran with his eight-year-old son, Harrison, who was dressed as an elf. He said: "It was good but I thought it was proper race and I could win and get a trophy."

Also taking part were a group of four neighbours from St Helen's Close, off Anstey Lane, in Leicester.

Linda Lambert, 43, who raised £177 in sponsorship, said: "We came to watch it last year and we thought it looked fantastic so we all came along to run this year.

"We ran together every morning since the summer so we were in good shape for it and it was great fun."

Over in Loughborough, more than 1,000 Santas lined up on the start line at Loughborough University for a 6km run around the town.

Krishan Khushalbhai, 23, from Loughborough, took part with five friends from work.

He said: "It's a great laugh and all of us really went for it and got pretty competitive."

Klaus Kaiser, a member of Loughborough Rotary Club, which organises the event, said: "We had more than 1,000 taking part and some were very competitive – our cyclist who leads the run had to go like the clappers to keep ahead of them."

He said the event had raised more than £250,000 for various causes in the past six years.

It supports Leicester hospice LOROS, Loughborough children's hospice Rainbows, Vista, which helps blind and visually impaired people, Kidney Research UK and other local Rotary Club charities.