Online gallery showcases charity runners, as Emily Gosden discovers

A SEA of Santas turned Liverpool’s streets red for the charity dash on Sunday – and they were the pick of Flickr this week, too.

Les Auld’s joyful photo entitled “bringing up the rear” shows a group of ladies getting into the Christmas spirit, singing and dancing their way to the finish line.

It was captured on his Canon EOS 50D.

The women were among nearly 8,000 people who took part to raise money for good causes including the Liverpool Unites charity. They beat last year’s total of 6,900 Santas.

Competitors adapted the Santa costumes, including one man who ran as a festive Where’s Wally?, as captured by Jim Malone on his Nikon D700.

Santa’s little helpers were out in force, too, with two canine competitors sizing each other up in Big Shef (Sefik Akkurt)’s photo, taken on a Nikon D300S, below.

The Santa Dashers were showered with fake snow en route by a rather leggy reindeer, who is shown consulting on the snow carton’s contents. Ian Hughes captured their expressions perfectly on his Nikon D40.

Anthony Beyga’s portrait of a police officer embracing the festive theme with her “nice hat”, as a group of Santas advances behind her, was taken on his Canon EOS 450D.