Dunedin parkrunner Anna Stevenson said it was definitely Rudolph, "because he always ‘nose’ the way".
"I outsprinted him at the end. I gave him a little push and went, ‘I’m taking this’.
"I beat him in the parkrun as well — but only just."
She said she and her dad Mark Stevenson did the parkruns every weekend, and always took the opportunity to dress up festively for the annual Christmas Day parkrun, to make it a little entertaining for the other runners and those watching.
Both said they were "stuffed" by the end of the run.
"And Rudolph wasn’t any help. He didn’t help me go faster at all.
"In fact, he was actually a bit of a hindrance, to be honest. It’s not as easy to run when you’ve got all that stuff sticking out in front of you."
She said the Dunedin parkrun lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest parkruns in the world when you were wearing costumes.
"Because of all the hills on the third and fourth laps, it’s just one of the hilliest ones in the world, and that makes it really hard.
"It’s a tough one. I definitely felt it at the end."
She believed her dad had the better end of the costume deal.
"I honestly thought Dad had no reason to complain about being tired at the end of it, because he had Santa piggy-backing him.
"He got carried the whole way — an absolute cheat, I say."
Both said the run was a great way to build an appetite for the massive Christmas dinner they went home to.
They were "stuffed like a roast turkey" by 1pm, and were left wondering if they would be able to cope with the New Year’s Day run.
