Rovio to Sponsor the “Course of the Force”

Rovio is sponsoring the “Course of the Force” relay race, which starts on July 7th in Santa Monica and ends on July 11th in San Diego. What is Course of the Force you ask? Well, it’s an Olympic-style relay race with — wait for it — lightsabers! It’s a charity event benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation where participants walk or run a 1/4 mile before passing the lightsaber off to the next participant (ideally not severing their hand in the process).

Thanks to an invite by Rovio I will be one of those participants! Even better, if you happen to be in Southern California between July 7th and 11th you might be able to participate too (note, you must be 18 years or older). If you’re interested in joining this awesome event email [email protected]. The Angry Birds team will be at the relay on Wednesday, July 11th, so if your down in San Diego they’re inviting you to stop by and say “Hi”! Rovio has more details on their blog post here.

BTW, Angry Birds and Star Wars have a bit of a past, though it’s nothing official. If you’ve never seen this awesome Angry Birds mashup I highly recommend you check it out.

Course of the Force Race Day Recap & Pictures

After boarding the Course of the Force shuttle in Long Beach, CA we headed down to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to join up with the racers making their way down from Redondo Beach. On board the Imperial Shuttle were Darth Vader, an AT-AT Walker (it took two guys to pull this off), Princess Leia, a full-blown Scout Trooper, and various other characters. It was a amazing group with some awesome costumes. Joining this cast of characters were were myself and my son, who was dressed as Boba Fett (since Rovio invited me I thought it was fitting to don my homemade “Angry Luke” shirt).

Our shuttle basically led the procession, which included cops, photographers, a couple huge Course of the Force RV’s, and Jabba the Hut’s Sail Barge. At designated intervals — every 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so — we would stop and another racer would jump out of the shuttle, grabbing the light saber from the previous runner.

My son and I were one of the last stops, so we were not far from the Huntington Beach pier. We had a great light saber battle for about a 1/4 mile of our leg. After that the summer heat got the better of him so I carried him the last 1/4 mile. Little Boba Fett is heavy! All-in-all it was a truly great time, benefiting a great cause.

I just wanted to personally thank the Rovio crew for inviting us to participate. I hope some of you took up them up their offer as well.

Course of the Force Teaser Video

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Category: Blog

Comments (32)

Rank: Master Slinger with 6760 points
By username12345 (@blahalb09)

Looks fun!

Rank: Master Slinger with 7400 points
By Angryguy (@angryperson)

best mix up ever!

Rank: Explosive with 2125 points
By xXAngryBirdLover2214Xx (@angrybirdlover2)

i love the video!

Rank: Master Slinger with 7205 points
By TruckDriver (@truckdriver)

The video was great, and the course sounds like a great event for a great cause! Unfortunately, now that I’m back on the road, I’ll probably miss out on this.

Rank: DaBomb with 450 points
By AngryDalek333 (@angrydalek333)

Always knew ewoks were evil!

Rank: Master Slinger with 7400 points
By Angryguy (@angryperson)

it’s a suprize to me

Rank: Fling King with 4185 points
By RedBirdsBrother (@redbirdsbrother)

Your gonna be in the race? Cool, hope you win BL!

Rank: Fling King with 4870 points
By Harrystar6 (@harrystar6)

Awesome good luck BirdLeder!

Rank: Explosive with 2335 points
By habspuck - YouTuber (@habspuck)

I don’t know if you are aloud to promote a video, but here is a video I made a while back of all the Angry Birds Star Wars characters that I could find.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Y0Ze5crPg&feature=plcp

Hope you like it! Thanks!

Rank: Sling God with 26055 points
By sal9 (@sal9)

Not a problem at all, as long as it stays relevant.
Also, avoid double posting, one comment should be sufficient ;)

Rank: Explosive with 2335 points
By habspuck - YouTuber (@habspuck)

Ok, sorry for that. I saw you got mentioned by the Angry Birds team on Twitter. Lucky you. Thats how I found you. I am following you now. :)

Rank: Master Slinger with 5690 points
By Peatree2 (@peatree2)

This site always gets mentioned by @AngryBirds on Twitter. :)

Rank: Gold Flinger with 7655 points
By Chicadee (@chicadee)

Ooooh @birdleader, colour me green. I’m happy for you that Rovio has invited you to participate. You certainly deserve it. It’s also a wonderful charity. Do I assume correctly in that Rovio donates your registration fee and you represent them? Are you going to dress up – there are prizes :) Don’t forget your camera. I understand you not photographing your face but a shot of your arm holding the lightsaber would be good. Photos of the Angry Birds Team would also be good. Did the invite include tickets to Comic-Con? OK, enough questions lol. Have a great day you lucky person you.

Rank: Sling God with 36990 points
By Bird Leader (@birdleader)

I believe so, but I’m not 100% sure. I’m bringing my son with me, so we’ll see what type of costumes we wear. I got him a Boba Fett one. I wanted to be Jengo Fett, but couldn’t find a good costume in time.

Nope, didn’t receive an invite to Comic Con, though I wouldn’t turn one down. That said, my son would kill me if he didn’t get to go too, so maybe it’s for the best. :)

Rank: Pig Leader with 10780 points
By mcc8206 (@mcc8206)

This is awesome! I live in the LA area so may try to show up for the start at Santa Monica Pier this weekend. I’m out of town next week, though, so will miss the Wednesday AB event in San Diego. :-(

Rank: Sling God with 36990 points
By Bird Leader (@birdleader)

That’s awesome!

Rank: Champion with 3550 points
By hristaki032 (@hristaki032)

Lightsabers!!!I’m geting the feeling that Rovio will release a web game for that.

Rank: Master Slinger with 6960 points
By iamMighty (@iammighty)

The video is awesome. Good luck BirdLeader :)

Rank: Sling God with 36990 points
By Bird Leader (@birdleader)

Thanks @iamMighty!

Rank: Master Slinger with 5715 points
By Silent Assassin (@silent-assassin)

Good luck Bird Leader and whoever else is doing it. May the force be with you ;).

Rank: Shooter with 980 points
By Very Angry At This Site (@angry-artist)

hilarious! since my 2 best friends are star wars nerds, i was starting to hate star wars. but that was funny!

Rank: Sling God with 67725 points
By wrw01 (@wrw01)

BL good luck for you and your family members in the relay. The video above is novel, well done and entertaining. The cause worth while. If I lived in the area loved to see all the AB and SW related items.

Rank: Sling God with 36990 points
By Bird Leader (@birdleader)

Most appreciated @wrw01!

Rank: Sling God with 28590 points
By MVNLA2 (@mvnla2)

@BL — Good Luck! and please be more careful with the light saber than the guy in the video — Which was great.
Don’t know if I can make start in SM, will look into it.

Rank: Sling God with 36990 points
By Bird Leader (@birdleader)

Thanks. That would be awesome. Email [email protected] if you’re interested!

Rank: Gold Flinger with 8570 points
By Kartflyer (@kartflyer)

Wow, what I would give to be you @BL… just kidding! Good luck on the race! :D

By Sopipas

I was in Santa Monica yesturday for vacation!

Rank: Master Slinger with 7205 points
By TruckDriver (@truckdriver)

Santa Monica?? For vacation?? What’s there besides the pier?

By Sopipas

Visiting cousins

Rank: Master Slinger with 7205 points
By TruckDriver (@truckdriver)

OK. I knew there had to be a reason. Having lived in the L.A. area most of my life, I know that when thinking of vacation spots, Santa Monica isn’t a place that readily comes to mind.

With apologies to any Santa Monica fans out there.

Rank: Fling King with 4540 points
By Hidayat1999 (@hidayat1999)

Great pictures you have there, Bird Leader.

Rank: Gold Flinger with 7655 points
By Chicadee (@chicadee)

Thanks BL (@birdleader) for the great pics. I hope you’ve now recovered from carrying Boba Fett – Bounty Hunter/warriors are always heavy – no matter how tall they are :) The “Angry Luke” shirt was a clever idea and looks professional in the photo. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks again for the pics/recap.

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