iMac Heads at the Portland Rose Festival Starlight Run

 

Julie, Jennifer, Tom, Bill, and Michael just before the Starlight Run Each year the Portland Rose Festival has a 5K fun run called the Starlight Run where each of the approximately 4,000 participants are encouraged to run in costume. The Starlight Run immediately precedes and pretty much follows the route of the Starlight Parade, the second-largest illuminated parade in the Northwest, viewed by 350,000 spectators lining the streets.
This seemed like a good opportunity for some Mac advocacy, so we formed a running group called the iMac Heads where each of the five participants wore a different color shell of an iMac on his or her head. A couple of Cyalume lightsticks illuminated the interior of each shell, although these didn't show up very well with the race being held just before dusk. But the response from the run/parade viewers was enthusiastic, although the ones who shouted "Microsoft!" didn't know what they were talking about.

 

Color Bar

 

Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, Lime, and Strawberry iMac Shells used in the Starlight Run The shells were removed from five iMacs that didn't need to be used the day of the race (the computers shouldn't be operated with the casing off due to the exposed electronics). The top casing and front bezel of each iMac were taped together with transparent tape to form the shell worn by the runners. Some self-adhesive velcro was applied to the top of baseball hats and inside top of the casings to hold them together. With a piece of transparent tape securing the bill of the hat to the bezel opening, the head gear was pretty stable for running purposes.

If you're considering doing this for your own local fun run, use a pliers to remove the "button" at the top of the baseball hats, as this may produce some discomfort after running a ways. To disassemble an iMac casing be sure to consult Apple's service procedures for the steps involved. It's not intuitively obvious how to take an iMac apart by simply looking at it, and the casing designers have a couple of the screws cleverly hidden for styling purposes. The lightsticks may be more effective for a race held after dark and a 10-pack of these can be inexpensively purchased from Big Country Supply (use the 30 minute high intensity variety).

For any other information on doing a run like this email tom@cedmagic.com