The recent 20th Santa Claus Shuffle 5K Race and One Mile Fun Run & Walk featured around 600 people participating for a good cause, and among them were Corey and Carmen Baxter of Suffolk, who added a special touch to the proceedings.

The husband and wife, who are avid runners, finished as the overall male and female winners of the 5K. Their times were 16:36.5 and 18:43.6, respectively.

“It was a fun race, and it was nice to win with each other,” Carmen Baxter said.

Her husband agreed, noting finishing as the top male and female runners “was a lot of fun.”

When asked if he and his wife have ever previously accomplished dual first place finishes like this in a race, he said, “It’s been a little while.”

When the two first got married and lived in Ohio, they used to run in a lot of races together, creating more opportunities to be king and queen of the track.

But when they had a child after moving to Virginia, it changed up their routine.

“He’ll race one weekend, and I’ll race the other weekend while the other one takes care of our son,” Carmen Baxter said.

However, the Santa Claus Shuffle has been an exception to this new routine.

The Baxters are currently stationed here in the United States Air Force; Corey Baxter moved down four years ago, and his wife joined him the following year.

The Shuffle is not far from where they live and is particularly close to where Corey Baxter works in Portsmouth, making it convenient and a familiar and encouraging environment.

“It just felt nice to get the support from the Portsmouth community,” he said.

He noted his wife started running in life a lot earlier than he did; she has close to 20 years of experience now, while he has been running for the last 15.

“We have been running competitively since probably around 2000,” he said.

Their practice comes during the week, amidst their busy schedules.

“We run together every day,” said Carmen Baxter. “That’s kind of how we spend time together.”

It becomes a family affair as Corey Baxter pushes a stroller containing their 1-year-old son Cassidy, named after the main character in John L. Parker Jr.’s novel “Once a Runner,” about a competitive collegiate runner whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile.

For winning the Santa Claus Shuffle 5K, which featured 523 finishers, the Baxters each received $50 gift certificates to Running Etc.

The Santa Claus Shuffle serves as a major fundraiser for the Tidewater Youth Services Foundation, providing 20 percent of its budget to help at-risk and court-involved youth.

“It went really well,” TYSF executive director Jeannie Martin said of this year’s event, which raised a net $25,000. She later noted the conditions for the event were excellent, adding, “People stuck around for the awards, because the weather was so pretty.”

She estimated 75 to 100 people participated in the one-mile fun run and walk.

She also praised another Suffolk standout, who filled a particularly important role at the event.

“Dan Clements, as always, was a great Santa Claus,” she said.

Several Suffolk runners won their age divisions in the 5K.

Local age-group winners included Andrea Leber with a time of 21:08.7 in the female 50- to 54-year-old division, Keith Purkey with a time of 23:15.4 in the male 40-44 division, Joseph Verdirame with a time of 23:40.1 in the male 65-plus division and Skylar Old with a time of 24:51.9 in the female 15-19 division.