Every year on the first Saturday in December the Santa Shuffle is held in 35 cities across Canada. This year the run that started in Edmonton 19 years ago spread beyond our borders. We had some unexpected participants register from the Canadian Airbase in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Despite being overseas, MCpl Carly Hasselman, Cpl Crystal Piluke and Sgt Chris MacIntyre registered to run as part of the Edmonton Santa Shuffle.

Along with the race packages, t-shirts, a start line, kilometre signs sent from The Running Room, The Salvation Army sent some extra goodies from home and gifts for the troops. The soldiers registered as a way to maintain contact with home and participate as though they were here with us – minus the snow, of course.

“The route was strewn with boulders and you would be shocked at the terrain we run in,” Sgt Chris MacIntyre explained. “It makes us appreciate our Edmonton River Valley so much more,” Sgt MacIntyre added.

The Edmonton Santa Shuffle, postponed due to poor weather conditions on December 5 when the run took place across the country was rescheduled for December 19, where approximatley 400 runners participated in this years’ Fun Run.

The Salvation Army would like to wish all our armed forces, both overseas and at home, a Merry Christmas.