Taranaki around the mountain relay....and Star Wars

[oota goota]

Hi all ok so my boys' kindy (called Seedlings) is fielding a relay team to run (or walk or stagger) the 150km around the mountain.

http://www.mountainrelay.co.nz/home

Seedlings participates in a number of events throughout the year and the never turn up unless in costume.

So this year the team is called the Seedling Space Cadets and as you can imagine there's a sci fi feel to the costumes.

So of course I'm so going as a stormtrooper woot!

But it turns out I've drawn a bit of a short straw and pulled a 12km leg that I understand has some 'beast' hills in it

Reality is starting to sink in 7 days out from the race and I've realised there's a couple of potential drawbacks to what I want to do:

* My leg starts at about 2pm no doubt in the blazing sun (so maybe a sandtrooper?)
* I'm not sure if I can run 12km especially if there's a bunch of damned hills
* I'm even less sure I can do it in a stormtrooper outfit

My plan is to cannibalise my paintball stormtrooper suit which at least has some flexibility in it, grab the top part of my regular armour, and cut some air holes in a spare bucket and then pray.

Running in this suit is going to be a bit of a joke and I'm planning on leaving bits of it on the side of the road as I overheat. The Seedlings support crew will hopefully pick up the bits as we go.

OK stay posted for pre-race updates and post race debrief and pics

[Blaxmyth]

Boy, have you got a treat in store for you!

I've done two 11km walks from Waverley beach to the township - in February - and it was a killer each time. Forget any idea of going at speed - you will definitely overheat. Helmet fan - preferably two - spare batteries - a minder for water breaks - take some gel energy packs. This is if you want to stay in costume the whole time.

If you're OK with partial costume, get the bucket off as soon as you can - it was where most of my overheating came from.

But, hey! You're about 30 years younger than me, so you'll be fine!

Looking forward to seeing lots of pics! Best wishes!

Phil

[oota goota]

Boy, have you got a treat in store for you!

I've done two 11km walks from Waverley beach to the township - in February - and it was a killer each time. Forget any idea of going at speed - you will definitely overheat. Helmet fan - preferably two - spare batteries - a minder for water breaks - take some gel energy packs. This is if you want to stay in costume the whole time.

If you're OK with partial costume, get the bucket off as soon as you can - it was where most of my overheating came from.

But, hey! You're about 30 years younger than me, so you'll be fine!

Looking forward to seeing lots of pics! Best wishes!

Phil

Thanks Phil that's good advice. I am going to do a number on an old helmet I've got; cut out all the traps, lose the lenses etc etc etc, Probably a bit of walking will definitely be needed

[MattG]

That's an impressive undertaking! A bit more prep involved than a regular troop, by the sound of things. Best of luck!

[oota goota]

That's an impressive undertaking! A bit more prep involved than a regular troop, by the sound of things. Best of luck!

Thanks MG hopefully I can find my happy place during the run and get through those hills!

[badges2nz]

Hey oota, what a trooper, have you got an old bucket around and take out the lenses and frown and replace with curtain black out material.
From what I understand this is what the troopers do at Orlando Florida.
It would at least allow a bit more air flow and allow any sweat/heat to escape.

[oota goota]

Hey oota, what a trooper, have you got an old bucket around and take out the lenses and frown and replace with curtain black out material.
From what I understand this is what the troopers do at Orlando Florida.
It would at least allow a bit more air flow and allow any sweat/heat to escape.

yeah I was just going to pop the lenses and leave it at that. A bit more indoor/ outdoor flow

[oota goota]

Ok dragged out the suit to see what kind of state it's in this lunchtime. Ummmm well it's in fairly average condition needs quite a bit of reconditioning but it should be able to hold together for the race!

For anyone interested this suit was my original paintball suit me and a mate of mine made quite a few years ago because we thought it could be a bit of laugh. The idea was to make a suit we could jumped around in a bit but it turned out that we were gloss white targets in the bush





So here's the suit as it stands. I've replaced the chest and arms with my ABS ones and also the belt. Next steps are to chop up the helmet a repair, patch the worn out bits on the stunt suit and take it for a test drive

[oota goota]

a couple more examples of the durability and flexibility of the stunt suit!

Halloween gig with too much fake blood



my mate playing drums



And leaping off a tractor



Operating a chainsaw



Running away from a fire



anyway you get the idea

[MattG]

Epic pics!