When Rob Limmer was preparing to compete in the second league of an international axe throwing competition, he joked that if he won, he would sign up to compete in the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival dressed as a Viking.
“I have the beard and throw axes and it seemed like a laugh,” he said.
“I ended up wining the second league and was true to my word.”
The marathon encourages participants to sign up for one of five races ranging from 42km to 3 kilometres on October 2, to raise money for charity.
This is Mr Limmer’s fifth time participating in the 21km half run.
“I do not usually like to stand out, but I promised to do this and after the first race and seeing the look on peoples faces as I slogged round or the faces of the kids when their parents pointed me out,” he said.
“I actually had someone come up to me one year and thank me as she was about to give up until I ran past her, and after she saw me slogging round the course in the 28 degree heat in costume it helped her to push on.”
Mr Limmer said running has been his “saving grace” over the past few years, and helped him get through a number of challenges.
“Just being out, pounding the path with just my tunes in the background helps to calm or clear my mind and allow me to ground and centre when I really need it and make sense of things without the distraction of everyday noise,” he said.
“I once went to see a friend down on Phillip Island to go and clear my head and ended up smashing out 21km around the island before going home for no other reasons than the scenery was amazing and it was what I needed to do to sort things out in my head.”
Running laps in the spring warmth is “not actually too bad“ Mr Limmer said, but he always dreads the Albert Park section of the race in particular as it is a wide loop with no shade.
“Some of the outside being made of fake fur and plastic means it does get very warm when the sun is shining. I keep adding bits each year and not doing myself any favours by doing this as I’m now looking to run in a leather breastplate on top of the other bits,“ he said.
“Running in the kilt is interesting and I’ve had a few moments with the wind blowing unexpectedly, but aside from that it is not too bad a costume to run in, compared so some of the others I have seen in the past.“
Mr Limmer has often raised money for the Sons of the West program, a free initiative to help western suburb residents improve their health. This year, he will raise money for the Black Dog Institute a medical research institute investigating mental health.
