Philly Christmas Run 5K

The Philly Christmas Run is a festive holiday 5K in Philadelphia. Choose one of four character categories — Penguin, Polar Bear, Reindeer, or Santa — and run, walk, or jog your way through the city in true holiday spirit.

The race takes place on Saturday, December 12, 2026 at 8:30 AM in Philadelphia, PA. The exact course will be revealed soon — check back for the course reveal.

When you join, you pick one of four characters: Penguin, Polar Bear, Reindeer, or Santa. Your character determines the festive hat and custom race bib you receive — and which category you compete in for awards.

Yes! Each of the four character categories is capped at 500 runners, for a total of just 2,000 spots. When a category fills up, it is gone.

Every runner gets a character hat and a matching character bib (Penguin, Polar Bear, Reindeer, or Santa), a commemorative finisher medal, and hot chocolate waiting at the finish line.

We award the top Male and top Female finisher in each of the four character categories — Penguin, Polar Bear, Reindeer, and Santa — for 8 award winners total.

Not at all. The Philly Christmas Run welcomes every pace. Run for a personal best or stroll the course in your holiday best — all are celebrated.

Absolutely. Walkers, joggers, kids, and families are all welcome. It is a holiday morning meant to be shared.

Yes, the 5K is professionally chip-timed, and every finisher receives official results.

Registration is open now! Prices increase as race day approaches, so register early to lock in the lowest rate — spots are capped at 2,000 runners.

Mid-December mornings in Philadelphia are cold, often near or below freezing, so dress in warm layers you can shed as you warm up. Gloves and a hat under your character headwear, plus a long-sleeve base layer, keep most runners comfortable from the start line to the finish.

Because the field is capped at 2,000 runners with only 500 spots per character, we strongly recommend registering in advance — categories sell out and race-day registration is not guaranteed. We'll confirm whether any day-of spots are available closer to the event.

We're finalizing the course and event details with the city, and we'll confirm the stroller policy closer to race day. If you're planning to bring one, email us at phillychristmasrun@runtheday.io and we'll keep you posted.

We'll share hat and sizing details as we get closer to race day. If you have a specific question about fit, reach out to phillychristmasrun@runtheday.io and we'll help.

The Philly Christmas Run is a winter race, so we plan to run in festive weather — a little snow just makes it merrier. In the event of conditions that affect safety, we'll communicate any changes to registered runners by email and here on the site.

We'll confirm our transfer and refund policy closer to race day. If you have a question about your registration in the meantime, email us at phillychristmasrun@runtheday.io.

The 5K is professionally chip-timed, and every finisher receives official results. We'll share where and when full results are posted as we get closer to race day.