MORE THAN 6,000 runners dressed up as Father Christmas for Liverpool's annual Santa Dash

A sea of red covered the city as participants donned the famous white beard and red outfit in an effort to retain their own world record.

The Guinness Book of Records currently places Liverpool as the home of the planet’s biggest Santa Dash after 3,921 runners took part in 2005.

Las Vegas has since then tried to go head-to-head with Liverpool and there were whispers that this would be the year the record-breaking crown crosses the Atlantic.

However, organisers are confident that, with more than 6,000 people signed up and around £100,000 pledged to charity, the record will be staying put.

Alan Rothwell, from organising company L13 10K, said: "We took over 6,000 entries in total and that should see us retain the world record.

"I don’t think Las Vegas, whose race was on Saturday, have cleared 5,000.

"That’s not definite, but I don’t think they did it, so we should retain our own world record.

"It was a fantastic event, despite the rain this morning, and everyone turned out in big numbers.

"We raised somewhere in the region of £100,000 to go to the 10 associated charities so it has been an overwhelming success and it’s a real credit to the city."

For full coverage of today's Santa Dash, read Monday's Liverpool Daily Post

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