A MOMENT CAPTURED

Tiffany Brown

Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007 | 2:25 a.m.

More than a few parents had some serious explaining to do when their young children got a sight of the more than 7,200 Santa Clauses in downtown Las Vegas last Saturday morning.

Hint to parents: All those Santas were there for the Las Vegas Great Santa Run, a fundraiser for Opportunity Village, the Las Vegas charity for the mentally disabled.

They were a sea of red dotted with white as they packed the Fremont Street Experience for entertainment and an inspirational appearance by Siegfried & Roy. Then the Santas moved to Las Vegas Boulevard for a five-kilometer race and a one-mile fun run.

The sight was something to behold, and participants climbed stairs for a better view after they crossed the finish line.

Dane Jolley of Henderson found an overlook from which to film the wave of Santas while keeping an eye out for his wife and her co-workers from CDW Corp., who ran together in the 5K.

"I'm looking for some red shoes out there somewhere but I haven't had any luck finding her yet," Jolley said, peering out over the sea of red.

"This definitely kicks off the holiday season, seeing all the Santa Clauses and all the kids and everybody here. It's great. It sort of reminds me of the ball drop in New York City, in some respects, with all the people that showed up. It's crazy, absolutely crazy. It's wonderful though, it's really wonderful."

Las Vegas runners were trying to set the world record for a gathering of Santas. The annual Liverpool Santa Dash holds the Guinness record with 3,921 in 2005. The two cities squared off last year - but couldn't verify a record. Organizers traded good-natured gibes on the Internet (www.santa-dash.com) before this year's runs, and Las Vegas is claiming the unofficial record, although several other cities have runs scheduled for this weekend.