With more than three weeks to go until Christmas Eve you might think you were mistaken if you saw hundreds of Santas running through the streets of Aberdeen.
But that is exactly what happened yesterday when almost 800 runners took part in the annual Santa fun run to raise money for charity.
Aberdeen Football Club’s Angus the Bull and Rory the Reindeer led the warm-up before the participants set off on the 6km route along the beachfront.
The Santas came from all over Scotland with areas like Aberdeen, Inverurie and Peterhead particularly well represented and entrants from the central belt, Fife and Moray taking part too.
Carys Petrie, of event organisers Wildhearts, said: “It was fantastic to see so many Santas of all shapes and sizes taking part in this record-breaking event.
“Collectively our Santa Runs in Inverness and Aberdeen have seen more than 1,200 festive fun runners taking part. Looking out across a sea of Santas at the start line at Pittodrie is something we’ll never forget.”
First across the finish line was Sam Horsfield, from Aberdeen, who was part of the “Victorious Secrets” team with a time of 21 minutes.
Hot on his heels was the fastest Mrs Claus, Charlotte Liene Heraq, a student from Latvia who is at university in Aberdeen. She completed the race in 24 minutes.
Children also took part in the fun run as “wee Santas” and wore special, festive T-shirts and hats.
The fastest youngsters were Lauren Salmon, 4, who ran the route with her dad Keith and crossed the line after 29 minutes. The fastest boy was Max Abernethy, 13, who finished in 31 minutes.
This year’s Santa run event in Inverness was held last weekend and runners took part in a route round the River Ness.
Money raised from the event will by invested by Wildhearts in micro-finance projects across the developing world to help people work their own way out of poverty and create sustainable futures for their families and communities.
The charity also provides entrepreneurial training and education in schools throughout Scotland.