latimes.com

Begin your New Year's resolution now and get in shape before those holiday calories pile on. Running events from 5ks to marathons abound during the season and most are fundraisers, so while you're giving, you'll get a better body too.

Run, don't walk! Find the path to wellness with one of these delightful December dashes.

• Holiday Hustle 5k - There's also a 1-mile fun run in Dexter, Michigan's Dec. 5 tree lighting celebration and race.


• NYRR Holiday 5k - There will be lots of antler caps and jingle bells at this popular, family friendly New York Road Runners 5k, Dec. 12, Balboa Park, Brooklyn. Sign up early at www.nyrr.org.


• Southern Village Holiday 5k and Family Fun Run - Dec. 13 is when runners take off on a challenging course for the sixth year of this Chapel Hill, N.C. fat burner.


• Santa Monica - Venice Christmas 5k/10k Run - In its 31st year, this Dec. 13 event delivers all the fun and views of the famous Venice Boardwalk. Info: www.w2promo.com.


• Virginia Highland Christmas 5k - The first 500 Atlanta residents in this Dec. 19 dash get Santa hats. Everyone receives T-shirts and goodies. No race day registration so go to www.rungeorgia.com for this 5k and miles of additional Georgia runs.


• CKRR New Year's Eve 5k Run/ Walk - Club Kokomo Road Runners invite all to kick off 2010 with a Dec. 31 5k in Kokomo, Ind. The 2 p.m. start gives you plenty of time to hoof it and get on with evening partying.


• 25th Anniversary Resolution 5k - Denver's oldest and only Dec. 31 run kicks off at 6 p.m. at Washington Park.


• Happy New Year Marathon - With its 6:30 a.m., Jan. 1 start time, you will be among the first to step into 2010 fitness. Starting line is at Central Park, Huntington Beach, Calif. There's also a half-marathon.


• New Year's Day 5k - Warm Phoenix weather is the draw for the fifth running of Arizona's first race of the year. The jaunt is through Papago Park, home to the Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Garden.