Braving the winter weather, more than 500 runners donned santa suits on 10 December to take part in Worcester’s fourth annual 5km Christmas Fun Run, jointly organised by Leukaemia CARE and Worcester City Football Club.

It’s an event that Market Link PR has promoted for the past two years and which continues to grow in popularity amongst both serious runners and those simply taking part to have fun and raise money for the charity. The charity’s Deputy Chief Executive, Eve Martin, said: “The media coverage we achieve really helps us to boost participant numbers and we appreciate that much of this is down to the excellent relationship Market Link PR has with the newspapers and radio stations in and around Worcestershire. We were absolutely delighted that so many people came along to the event this year to raise money for our charity, despite it being a cold and rainy day, and it was great to see everyone having such a good time.”

Director of Market Link PR, Steve Paddock, said: “It’s a pleasure to work with Leukaemia CARE and use our expertise and media contacts to help raise awareness of the fantastic work they do and to encourage people to get involved in fundraising activities such as the Christmas Fun Run.”

Steve who took part in the race with his sons Liam (17) and Sean (8), raising more than £250 between them, added that the event was really well organised and the atmosphere was amazing. “There’s always a buzz of excitement as the race is about to start, with runners raring to go, but when you start to get tired along the route it’s the spectators who keep you going. There were people cheering us on from almost every street corner and kids hanging out of their windows to shout their support. It was fantastic, particularly for Liam who was over the moon to finish in second place overall.”

December 2006