Umberto Soda ran 42.2 km on Wednesday as a way to raise money for the Salvation Army Food Bank (Photo: Soda Entertainment)

By Shaun Penner

Santa on the Run

Santa runs marathon Christmas Day in support of Food Bank

Dec 28, 2019 | 7:00 AM

If you saw Santa running around the Grande Prairie area on Christmas Day, your eyes were not deceiving you.

The running St. Nicholas also goes by the name of Umberto Soda, who is a new resident to the Peace Country that wanted to find a way to help raise money and donations for the Salvation Army Food Bank this holiday season.

So, he decided to run a full 42.2 KM marathon on Christmas Day. In a Santa suit.

Soda during his run on Christmas Day (Photo: Soda Entertainment)

Soda was able to complete it in rather speedy time, as his chalks up his official running time at three hours and 49 minutes, which is above the average of 4:15-4:22, according to the website Runner’s World.

That run came with a few stops in between though, as he said hello to a few children along his route.

“There were a couple groups of kids that we saw, that were like ‘Oh! It’s Santa!’,” said Soda. “I would always wave and go ‘Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!”

“There were people that were taking pictures of me along the way, as well. A lot of people were honking. I love the publicity and awareness (this created).”

Photo: Soda Entertainment

Soda is an avid runner, who has taken part in four long distance running events already this year. It was the first full marathon he has run in nearly a decade though, but does note that he was prepared to do this.

“I’ve been training the last year, two years. Everyday almost,” said Soda. “I’ve been sticking to my training.”

The training is also to work toward another goal of his, which is to one day run in the Olympics. Even now that he is in his 30’s, Soda feels confident that he can
make it one day.

“I still feel like I can still make the Olympics, either in the marathon or other avenues like the 5,000 and 10,000 metres,” said Soda. “I’ve seen some athletes that are in their 40’s, still making the Olympics.”

“I think it is not out of reach.”

Photo: Soda Entertainment

With all of that, Soda is hoping his passion for running and his Christmas Day efforts can serve as an example for young people in the community.

“I am trying to inspire youth to not go down that wrong path,” said Soda. “Even if running isn’t their sport. Just any sport they would want to choose.”

Soda says he is not sure just how much the run was able to raise for the Salvation Army, as the idea to do this was rather last minute. However, he is grateful to whoever was able to chip in what they could.

Looking ahead to next year, Soda says he can see himself doing it again while hopefully generating more attention ahead of time to increase donations. But he may not stop there, as he and his partner, Tara Street, are in the early stages of creating an entertainment-based business here in the Peace region, called Soda Entertainment.

“This is just one of the many things that we are going to start looking into,” said Soda. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be Santa on the Run all year round?”