Some of us maniacs ran the half marathon.  Some the 7KM. Regardless it was a hot day in the Capital, we sported our SRT tee’s and got to it.  Parent, or not parent; phil&teds heads rise to the in-house testing challenge.  We’re not precious here, we have an incredible Design & Engineering team that need willing applicants to try out our products, and help prove that they can handle the jandle (what is a jandle?) – as kiwi’s put it.  On of our newest phil&teds’ heads, – Judy did just that at last weekend’s Round the Bays!

” If batman had a buggy, he’d have a sub4…Last weekend I had the pleasure of being batman, but without the suit and sadly without robin by my side. Fear not ; I didn’t need Robin, for I had my own sidekicks. Twelve thousand of them in fact, puffing and panting next to me whilst I took on the Wellington Round the Bays run.  Just me and my buggy… and a few thousand sidekicks.

I won’t lie, initially I was reluctant to take on the challenge .Super heroes don’t generally jump into things willy nilly, unless of course it’s for the greater good. Luckily the Phil &Teds team (Nicola) can be very persuasive and I was assured it was in aid of a worthy cause. We’d be running for the Surgical Research Trust.   I was sold. I’d run around those bays as fast as I could and I’d do it with the sub 4 by my side (or to my front, as it may be). For those who aren’t familiar with the sub 4 it’s basically the muscle car, of the buggy variety. It’s sleek, it’s sexy and it’s worthy of batman.

I knew I wanted to be the one to put the sub 4 through its paces. The buggy had it all. The only thing it was missing was a child to push in it. I was slightly perturbed. The engineers had strapped the little beauty with a weight, a sand bag if you will, to simulate a child! Perhaps I wasn’t going to look as cool as I had hoped…

I need not have worried. Naturally, I was taunted at times. I was running with a childless buggy, it’s a given. “You’ve lost your baby”! they shouted.  I paid no heed, I knew they were jealous. Plus when I lied and told the jeerers I had in fact abandoned my child near the start of the race, due to her holding me back, they immediately understood. This was a race after all. You do what you have to do.

The sub 4 handled like a dream. We were in sync with one another.  One being, three wheels. The less fortunate strollers of this world looked on in awe, as the panther of strollers strode past. We could both smell victory, we were going for gold. Mediocre isn’t a word the sub 4 understands. Yes, it has a wide vocabulary; it just can’t get a handle on the word mediocre.Half way through the race the beast and I were forced to slow down. The sub 4 attracts attention. It comes with the territory.  Civilians were interested, I had to stop and let them know just what (who) they were beholding. It got a bit out of hand. People began begging me to take their children, literally begging me to let them ride in the buggy. Yes, they all wanted to ride with batman.

I’ll admit I got a little caught up in the fray. The sub4 and I began engaging with our competitors.  We raced other buggies and left them in our wake. We received envious glares and we didn’t care. One elderly gent declared he’d have another child just to own one. So I let him have a push and for a minute he was transformed into a young man once again. He tagged along beside us the rest of the way, admiring the buggies suspension and all its charms.
With all the fun and flattery I’d forgotten the time. It was time to get serious. The end was approaching fast. I grabbed my old friend and together we pushed the buggy towards the finish line. One hand each, we pushed on.  The crowd went wild. The cameras snapped.  It was a hero’s welcome. And heroes we were. Batman, Robin and the sub 4.  – Judy, phil&teds head”