If you want to run with Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, head to Seneca Falls, New York, where thousands of runners gather to run merrily through the streets for a holiday 5k this month.
After a year’s hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, “It’s A Wonderful Run” will return to “the real Bedford Falls” in Upstate New York on Dec. 11 with a live race. There is also a virtual option which runs from Dec. 4-11, 2021.
The holiday season running event is part of the town’s, “It’s A Wonderful Life Festival,” honoring the Christmas movie classic. For one long weekend each year, Seneca Falls changes its name to Bedford Falls for a festival celebrating the movie which brings surviving actors from the 1946 film, as well as legions of fans.
The race begins in town with the iconic proclamation from the movie “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings,” and takes runners over the steel truss Bridge Street Bridge, where a plaque commemorates the bravery of a young man in 1917 who jumped into the frigid canal below to rescue a woman who had jumped off the bridge in an apparent suicide attempt. The young man drowned, but not before he was able to push her to safety.
The real-life tale mirrors the movie’s plot where the main character George Bailey jumps into the water to save his guardian angel, who himself had jumped into the water to give the suicidal Bailey a person to save and a reason to live.
In past years up to 4,000 runners have attended “It’s A Wonderful Run,” with many in full holiday spirit regalia. It’s not unusual to see several reindeer, Santas, and even a few Grinches.
The streets are filled with Christmas music and revelers come to cheer the runners on. You can register to have dinner at Ma Baileys Kitchen when the race is through, visit George Bailey’s car at the Festival Welcome Center, or enjoy the shopping along the town’s charming main street.
This year’s five-day long “It’s A Wonderful Life Festival,” will also commemorate the film’s 75th anniversary with a presentation by “The Essential It’s a Wonderful Life: A Scene-By-Scene Guide to the Classic Film” author Michael Willian, stories about director Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart, a screening of the documentary “The Real Bedford Falls: It’s a Wonderful Life,” various autograph signings and meet-and-greets with cast members at the It’s A Wonderful Life Museum, “The Ultimate It’s a Wonderful Life Christmas Tree.”
You can register online for both the in-person race or the virtual run at runsignup.com/Race/NY/BedfordFalls/ItsaWonderfulRunNY.
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