Cursa dels Nassos - New Year's Eve 10k in Barcelona

From the Barcelona Casual Road Runners meetup Hubby and I learned about the New Year's Eve 10k: Cursa dels Nassos, or the "nose run" or "race of the noses."

Follow your nose!

Running noses?
Yes.
It's a bit of a Catalan joke...
According to local tradition, on Cap d’Any (New Year’s Eve)

"look out for L’Home dels Nassos, the man who has as many noses as days of the year – it being the last day, the sly old fox has only one – who parades the streets and throws sweets to all the children he sees... At midnight everyone stops swilling cava and starts stuffing 12 grapes into their mouths, one for every chime of the bell." (Source: Catalanculture.com)

On the last day of each year, locals joke that they've seen a man with "as many noses as days of the year." Because, of course, with only one day left in the year we likely have all seen someone with one nose! So to celebrate this inside joke, 10,000+ runners take to the streets to run an evening 10k.

As you can imagine, with several thousand runners, this race is not for the claustrophobic. The course is crowded from start to finish. But the scenery and general good humor make up for the crowds.

If you run it, keep an eye out for people running with fake noses stuck to their outfits, or dressed as chickens (and spectators cheering "corre pollo! corre!" -- "run, chicken! run!"), and dozens of other humorous costumes, including this clever play on Rudolph pulling Santa's sleigh:

I must admit, the Santa reference was a bit of a surprise to me. Barcelona has no chimneys, and Epiphany is a bigger holiday than Christmas, so the Santa concept has never gotten much traction here.

Either way, if you're in Barcelona for the holidays, this 10k is not to be missed!