SPRINGFIELD – Nothing screams holiday spirit like running through a holiday light display while decked out in Christmas costumes – and on Nov. 27, hundreds of runners did just that.

In what has become a post-Thanksgiving tradition for many, 500 runners raced through Forest Park for the annual Bright Nights 5k Road Race. The Spirit of Springfield, a non-profit dedicated to creating and producing events that provide people with a “sense of community, civic pride and opportunities for celebration,” puts on the fun run every year. Each runner receives a souvenir long-sleeved t-shirt, a pass to return to Bright Nights and a post-race soup supper.

“We had interest from the very beginning – people wanted to do a run through the park and code enforcement wouldn’t allow us, at the time, to have people in the park walking when you have all the wires,” said Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt. “Then we finally got code enforcement to agree to let us do it, and that’s the story. We sell out every year.”

The course for the fun-run starts at the Seuss Land Arch, and continues through the park and past all of the holiday lighting displays, to the Poinsettia Candles and back to Seuss Land.

Although costumes are not a requirement, many of the participants choose to dress up in holiday-themed clothes, explained Matt.

“We have more Santas than you can count and some who dress in old-fashioned elf outfits with tutus and big hats and all kinds of lights all over them,” she said. “Some of them are so bizarre, it’s just very fun.”

The festive 5k has always been a sell-out event, Matt added.

This year, the race sold out in under an hour when it went online at 12 a.m. on Sept. 17.

The overall female winner was Mackenzie Collins, with a time of 22:15, while the overall male winner was Blake Dufresne with a time of 18:03. Both participants hail from Windsor Locks, CT.

The Bright Nights 5k Road Race is sponsored by Baystate Rehabilitation and Health New England, with additional support from the Freedom Credit Union, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Springfield College and Westfield Bank.

For more information on Bright Nights, head over to https://www.brightnights.org/.