After a year or two off, the 5k Santa Stroll was back for 2015. This was the first year that I have ran this race. The proceeds from the race goes towards Santas Pantry which is a pay it forward organization that strives to serve others expecting nothing in return. They even have classes for school age kids which focus on teaching kids how they can serve their community.
Course: The race is run in downtown Elkhart, IN. The race starts in public streets, makes two turns and is on bike paths/sidewalks until the very end. The first quarter mile is filled with some sharp/tight turns. So if you are a little further back, watch out. Most of the course is run beside the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers. It also involves 1.5 laps around the Elkhart Island which can be confusing making sure you don't turn off the island too soon. But the island is probably the most scenic part of the race. Along the course is one water station, a hot chocolate/cookie station, and a candy cane station. The course was very well marked, so other than the 1.5 laps around the island, it's hard to get lost. Plus at every turn, and there were a lot of them, there were a volunteers making sure you go the right way and encouraging.

SWAG: if you registered early, you were guaranteed a disposable Santa suit to wear during the race. I did not wear mine, other than the hat due to race morning temps at 55 degrees and also, they didn't look too comfortable. A lot of others did wear theirs however. The suits didn't have the race name or logo on them anywhere, so I would have rather had a shirt, especially silly given the $35 registration fee ($50 for a family).
Awards: fastest "Santas" (both male and female) won a medal and $25 gift certificate to the local running store. Age group awards were very generic ribins. very much a letdown.
Race Organization: this was ranked fairly low. I don't believe there were too many runners involved in planning this race. Just seemed somewhat disorganized and also took a while to do awards after the event, I would say about an hour and s half after the race started.
Post race food: this would get my highest marks. Donuts, subway sandwiches,cookies, fruit, granola bars, candy bars, water, hot chocolate. A very nice spread.

I am not giving up on this race in the future but would love to see some improvements made such as doing away with the Santa suits and going to race shirts. Also would like to see course improvements do the course isn't as crowded early on.