"I enjoy running, I'm a fun-runner. I put my knee out a few weeks ago and I knew I couldn't do my fastest time so I'll make it fun, make people laugh and have a good time rather than overdo it."
Mr Connop raised the spirits of the drenched runners who had to battle poor weather.
The Town Basin custodian didn't quite get through the whole race in the suit, removing it after 7km before putting it back on for the final kilometre.
Mr Connop likened the suit to a "walking sauna", saying "when you're just walking around it gets quite warm so running in it got really hot."
He had little preparation for running in the suit, only getting a little run around in it at Armageddon, a science-fiction convention in Auckland three weeks ago.
Mr Connop said his vision was obscured and that caused a couple of collisions.
"There's a clear plastic panel to see out of but there's mesh in front as well which makes it pretty hard to see clearly from," he said.
"I actually managed to run into a couple of rubbish bins along the way too. Fortunately I didn't fall over."
And would he do it all again?
"Of course", he said. "It was great fun!"
The weather may not have put a dampener on his spirits but it did force the cancellation of Kerikeri's famous Street Party.
The cancellation was due to ongoing rain making it unsafe to power the lighting and sound equipment needed to stage the festivities, Kerikeri Street Party Committee spokeswoman Tracey Bree said.
Thirty food outlets and 13 wineries and craft breweries were to have taken part. Twenty-five of the stands required power to operate.
