Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Joe Downtown: Shania Twain to kick off annual Great Santa Run

Shania Twain: 'Still the One' Opening Night

Denise Truscello/WireImage/DeniseTruscello.net

Opening night of Shania Twain’s “Still the One” at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012.

Shania Twain: ‘Still the One’ Opening Night

Opening night of Shania Twain's Launch slideshow »

Next month, country music/crossover superstar Shania Twain, a fixture on the Strip, will venture downtown as grand marshal of the Great Santa Run, which returns downtown after several years at Town Square.

The Dec. 7 event, the 9th annual, includes a mile walk and 5K run and is known for drawing thousands of runners dressed as Santa. Last year, it was billed as the “World Santa Challenge,” with almost 10,000 runners dressed as Santa, more than any other Santa run.

The event is a fundraiser for Opportunity Village, a not-for-profit organization serving people with intellectual disabilities.

Twain headlines “Shania: Still The One” at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. In a press release, Opportunity Village’s Linda Smith said Twain’s involvement “is a testament as to how far this run has come over the years, and we couldn’t be more excited to flood the streets of Downtown Las Vegas with Santas!”

The race will begin under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience and continue through downtown.

Preregistration is $40 for adults — or $35 for those on teams of five or more people — and $25 for children 12 and under. The day-of-registration fee is $50 for adults and $35 for children. The fee includes a five-piece Santa suit and gifts.

Donations of $50, $250, $500 and $1,000 also will be accepted, with gifts going to donors at the different levels.

Go to lasvegassantarun.org for more information and to register.

Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts building.

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