Remember Christmases of yore? When a beaming aunt or grandma handed you a beautifully-wrapped box? And you excitedly tore into it, until…
You found–cable-knit Christmas trees and patterned red-and-green snowflakes.
Today, you’re still not exempt from receiving one of these patterned sweaters for Christmas–ribbed-in reindeer and all. But now, you can do something about it.
Put that sweater on, grow or fake a mustache, and come have a good time for a great cause, at this year’s Ugly Sweater Run.™
According to their website, the Ugly Sweater Run™ happens in locations all across the country this year. This is a 5K course, where sweater-clad participants can run or walk just over three miles on city streets and through parks. Four different California cities–San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento–have posted 2013 dates and times.
The fun part? There are Christmas-themed stations at every mile, unlimited hot chocolate, Christmas music and snow blowers, treats and contests for the ugliest sweater, best sweater, best fake mustache, and so forth, and so on. Children under 8 get free admission. And the best part is that each participant–in addition to doing a lot of laughing and celebrating with family and fellow ugly sweater owners with a great sense of humor–is asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to put under the Christmas tree. (You didn’t think all this was happening without one of those, did you?) Toys get donated to the Toys for Tots chapter in each city.
Hmmm…maybe that warm feeling is something more than just those cable-ribbed Santas and trees, after all.
This year’s Ugly Sweater Run™ cities include San Diego on November 30th, Sacramento on December 7th, Los Angeles on December 21st and San Rafael on November 16th. There are early-registration discounts–click on the website’s link for your specific city for deadlines. If you plan to be there with jingle bells on (probably on your sweater!), you’re encouraged to sign up early; the site warns that yes, there is such a thing as too many ugly sweaters! And we don’t want to see them close registration without you and yours.