Hundreds of Calgarians brave chilly weather to run and walk for the Salvation Army

About 200 Calgarians participated in the Santa Shuffle Fun Run & Elf Walk at The Confluence on Saturday morning.

A little more than 200 hardy Calgarians braved the wind chill Saturday morning to raise $10,000 for the Salvation Army.

The 35th annual Santa Shuffle Fun Run & Elf Walk took place in the East Village to help raise funds for the city’s most vulnerable population.

“People register, they donate, and we raise funds to help people with Christmas programs that we run and also the other programs we run throughout the year,” said Salvation Army envoy and pastor Bob Macleod.

“We help women in need, children with toys at Christmas time – which is what we really need this year," Macleod added.

“All the money raised goes to support those events,” he said.

Macleod said the chilly weather, which featured a wind chill of around -25, didn’t deter too many people from showing up.

“It is cold,” Macleod said.

“We did race package pickup the last couple days and they really wanted to come. We had the Salvation Army band come here earlier. Everyone wanted the Salvation Army band – it’s really part of Christmas in Calgary.

“People just like to come, no matter the cold,” he added.

“You see lots of frosty faces. We started setting up these tents about a quarter to eight this morning, we had a hockey team volunteer to come help us, the Trails West Wolves, and it was just a great event!

“People love to get involved no matter the temperature.”

He said about 217 runners and walkers participated Saturday, which was a bit of a dip from last year, but he said he was confident that the numbers will grow again next year.

“Thanks to all the Calgarians who have been a part of us,” he said.

With files from CTV’s Tyler Barrow