Reindeer run raises thousands for charity

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Organizers of the inaugural Running of the Reindeer in Anchorage, Alaska, said the event drew 1,000 participants and several thousand spectators.

The event, modeled after Spain's Running of the Bulls, featured 500 women and 500 men galloping down two city blocks alongside 12 charging caribou, the Anchorage Daily News reported Monday.

The organizers said neither man nor beast was injured during the run, and thousands of dollars were raised for Toys for Tots and the Wounded Warrior project.

Participants and spectators alike said the reindeer run was exactly what the city's Fur Rendezvous festival needed to bring back the excitement of the event's early years.

"I remember when I was a kid, there would be booth after booth on the streets," said participant and life-long Anchorage resident Shawn Silverthorn. "It's great to see people lined up with their cameras like this. This is a shot in the arm for the city.

"There'll be a lot of people watching this on YouTube in the morning."