Santa and his elves raise thousands for Weymouth's 'Chase the Pudding'
Hundreds donned fancy dress costumes to take part in festivities on Weymouth Beach
Weymouth's Chase the Pudding event raised thousands of pounds for the Will Mackaness Trust this weekend.
Hundreds dressed up as Santa and his elves to take part in a 5k race that has become a mainstay in Weymouth's Christmas calendar.
Runners chase behind two runners dressed as Christmas puddings, appropriately named Mr and Mrs Pudding. The first man and first woman to pass the finish line return the following year as Mr or Mrs Pudding.
Pam Govier runs the Will Mackaness Trust, which is behind the event. She told Greatest Hits Radio it was a great way to kick off the festive week.
"We got down there, it was all very quiet first of all, and all of a sudden there just seemed to be this splash of colour of all the Santas and elves and pantomime people just centred on the beach.
"It was a delightful sight."
She said the money raised will go a long way in helping youngsters explore water sports activities.
The event raised £2600 in memory of Will Mackaness, a teenager who died of a brain tumour in 2008.
Will was well known for his love of water sport activities and the trust helps other young people access them too.
"My whole take on this is it's such a terrible time in our lives but something wonderful has happened out of something terrible and it's given me a lot of strength supporting the trust, and it gives me a lot of strength knowing that Will would have been so happy knowing that this is going on."