VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A child might have gotten confused about seeing 4,000 Santas Saturday along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, but they all dressed the part as part of a festive BayPort Credit Union Surf ‘n Santa 5-miler.

The race, which started at 19th Street and made its way to the Oceanfront, saw participants run through the holiday lights on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk before they finished and celebrated with a DJ, cold beer and warm soup.

Randy and Marti Wilson said they came down from Fredericksburg to run to get into the holiday spirit. They said they’ve been to the event at least eight times.

“We just love doing it,” Randy Wilson said. “We went Christmas shopping. We’ve been married 40 years, so we try to spend as much time together as we can.”

Chris Free of Virginia Beach won the race, while Trevor Cable of Toano finished second and Jacob Geiselhofer of Cave Creek, Arizona took third. Emily Honeycutt of Newport News was the women’s winner.