When the Twin Cities Marathon gets under way in Minneapolis on Oct. 2, fans lining the course will see a familiar big, pink local celebrity shakin' her bacon.
When the Twin Cities Marathon gets under way in Minneapolis on Oct. 2, fans lining the course will see a familiar big, pink local celebrity shakin' her bacon.
"Mudonna T Pig," the mascot of the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball team, will be running the 42.195 kilometer race to raise funds for the areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Inside the Mudonna costume will be 39-year-old Tokyo native Seigo Masubuchi, who has been in charge of fan services for the Saints for about 15 years. To raise funds for disaster-hit northeastern Japan, Masubuchi began discussions in July with the team on how they could collect donations. They decided on a system where fans can select from four categories of donation amounts and win team goods, admission tickets or fan services in return. He came up with the idea of running the marathon in the furry, pink pig suit to promote the donation campaign.
Masubuchi is an experienced marathoner who has completed 42.195 km races in less than three hours. But this will be his first time to run a marathon in a pig suit. He ran a half-marathon in the Mudonna costume for practice, but both of his legs cramped right before the finish line and he collapsed. The pig suit was not only heavy, it also made it difficult to see ahead, and -- most of all -- it was extremely hot inside.
"It's hard adjusting to the heat," Masubuchi said, adding that he had made revisions to his suit such as making the legs lighter and punching holes in the suit head to improve ventilation.
His goal is to beat the 4:15:03 record set in Canada by a runner wearing a dog mascot suit last fall.
Masubuchi trains in his pig suit, which is already helping to raise awareness of the donation project.
"I want to set a world record and help Japan recover from the disaster," he said.
Masubuchi also helps out with organizing the international youth soccer tournament held annually in Minnesota. He hosted members from Tokiwagi Gakuen High School from quake-hit Sendai when they participated in the tournament.
Donations collected by the St. Paul Saints will be sent to Tokiwagi Gakuen High School and a U.S. charity organization that continues to conduct volunteer activities in quake-hit areas in Japan.