A week later of the race, he tells us his experience which define it as "the hardest thing I have ever done (physically)".
Public
"The crowds were superb from start to finish and I high-fived as many people as I could throughout the course. There were a few times were I thought I was going to pull out, but the crowds really kept me going".
Pace
"I purposely took of faster than planned as I wanted to get the half way mark as early as possible. I did the first 10k in 55:55 and the first half in 2:06:14 with an overall finishing time of 4:53:14".
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| Dave Roper after finishing the Brighton Marathon. |
Spiderman vs Stormtrooper
"I thought that running as Spiderman (he ran the Brighton Marathon as this character in 2016) was tough, but he has nothing on a Stormtrooper. In training I thought I had got rid of any problem areas with rubbing/digging in to me......but after running for nearly 5 hours I now know otherwise".
Hot temperature
"Running in the Armour is so tough as you can't really feel any breeze, and its very hot under that helmet. The restriction of movement in my legs made the second half tough. I also had my left trainer on a little too tight causing my foot to go numb. It is still numb now 3 days later".
Family
"Having my family and friends around the course great. I knew roughly where I was going to see them and it was amazing every time I saw them".
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| Dave drinking water during the race. |
A straw for the future
With the full costume on I cannot take of my own helmet as the hands will not fit inside the gap to unclip the chinstrap. This meant that I was only able to have a drink when I saw my wife, Kirsten. I stopped twice for a few minutes at mile 14 and 18 and toweled myself off and enjoyed fluids. For future runs I am going to fix a straw inside the helmet".
Crossing the finish line
"The final 100m finish will be a moment that I will never forget. Firstly the crowds were all roaring at all of the finishers and then over the Tannoys the Imperial March music blasted loudly. This picked me right up and I waved to the crowds. Just before the finish line the Star Wars theme tune blared. I literally had goosebumps. It was a superb way to finish an exhausting race".
Post race
"After picking up my medal I made my way to the beer tent (a fantastic addition) and met back up with my family. We walked up to the train station (minus the helmet) and sitting on that train was the best feeling EVER! I wore the suit from 8:45am - 5:15pm. It was a long day. Taking it off was amazing. Now I cant wait to get it on again and do the next run".
Looking for the Guinness World Record
"I am currently trying to get as many photographs/videos and witness statements to send to Guinness World Records. To top it off, we have raised over £4000 for Autism All Stars which makes every painful step/every cut and bruise worth it".
More pictures of the #StormtrooperDave here:
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