A force to be reckoned with

Geoff Nottage says running the Auckland Marathon in his Darth Vader suit is hot and uncomfortable, but people cheer him on. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Some people take the Auckland Marathon quite seriously, but to Geoff Nottage it's "just a bit of fun".

He'll be running the event on Sunday the same way he has for the past four years - dressed as Star Wars villain Darth Vader.

And if running 42km in a fogged-up helmet won't be challenging enough, the 31-year-old Beach Haven resident will be doing it a day after competing in the 100km K1 cycle race on the Coromandel Peninsula.

And he is in training for the Taupo Ironman - a 3.8km swim, a 180km cycle section and a marathon - so the Auckland event is just a training run.

Mr Nottage will be kitted out in long black pants, a cape and his Darth Vader helmet, utility belt and light-sabre.

Even in this kit, he says, he will be running the marathon at a slower pace than he could do because he will be supporting a friend.

He and some friends - who have dubbed themselves Team Death Star - always run the race in costume and over the years have dressed as different Star Wars characters.

"We had one guy ran it in a Wookiee suit one year. He got some pretty bad chafing, though - it wasn't very nice.

"We've had storm troopers, clone troopers, a TIE fighter pilot, Obi-Wan Kenobi ... The Wookiee suit was the funniest. It was a hot day and he stank really bad afterwards.

"When people ask why I wear the Darth gear, I always respond, 'Because the force is strong in me'."

Asked how the costume tradition started, Mr Nottage said: "We'd been doing a bit of drinking and we were doing the Round the Bays run and we did it dressed in Star Wars gear. That wasn't quite challenging enough, so we thought we'd better do the marathon in it and it just went from there."

Then they stepped it up a bit.

"Two years ago we did Round the Bays in full dive gear with tanks and stuff, and that was pretty tough. I'd rather do a marathon than do that again."

Mr Nottage doesn't do any special training to run in the Darth Vader mask.

"It's terrible," he said. "You can't breathe. It's so hot in there and it just fogs up and you don't see a thing the whole way around.

"It's like driving in winter with no de-mister on your window."

But there are some benefits: "You don't get lonely because everyone's cheering you on.

"I see people all the time and I say I'm running a marathon and they say, 'Yeah, there's this guy who runs it every year dressed as Darth Vader', and I say, 'Oh yeah, some nutter'," he joked.

Asked how Auckland's marathon compared to others, Mr Nottage said: "This one is the most fun just because I'm running it with some friends and we do it to enjoy ourselves. We have water fights at the drink stations and try to have a laugh with the crowd ... It's a bit of fun."

And his tip for anyone else doing the marathon? "Run in something that's comfortable."