Santa Paws, now in its 8th year, raises money for the programs of the SPCA of Wake County,
Beth Schulman of the SPCA of Wake County told ABC11: "It's the largest certified 5K, dog friendly 5K in the area. So you can bring your dog! If you're competitive, you can do that, too."
Many of the teams participating had people and dogs with links to the SPCA, like runner Ron Fulton and his dog.
"Yeah, I actually adopted Chase from the SPCA about 10 years ago," said Fulton, "and my wife and I still volunteer there. We love the organization," said Fulton.
Proceeds from Santa Paws help homeless pets, along with the SPCA's mission to transform the lives of people and pets.
"You want to have plenty of space so all the dogs aren't confined to a small area," during Santa Paws, Schulman said, and because the pets can't use a portable toilet, "We definitely have poop bags for the dogs, and things like that because you want to leave a place the way you found it."
Many dogs wore sweaters on a chilly Sunday, but according to Chase's human: "It didn't seem to bother him at all, because the whole time we were training he actually didn't run this fast! So I guess he likes colder weather!"