Annie Cuthbertson and Tim Munro are firing up a ride-on lawnmower for an 86km trek to raise money.
The Winchmore couple, along with their machinery-mad 13-year-old grandson Doug, are taking part in the Mowsworth Rampage on Saturday.
Set to take participants from Molesworth to Hanmer Springs, the annual event is a fundraiser for the Cancer Society Nelson Tasman and Nelson Tasman Hospice.
The first-time entrants have their costumes at the ready.
They have called their team Grassroot Gangsters.
Tim, 67, is donning a Driza-Bone jacket with hat and mask, while Annie’s gangster look includes a long blonde wig and cap. Annie, 66, said the event was not something they would usually do.
‘‘We donate – but we don’t do it – but we like the Molesworth, we love biking and going off the radar,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ve biked it, we’ve driven it a few times and now we’ll do the mower thing. We thought, ‘What a bloody good idea’.’’
The one-day event starts at Molesworth Cob Cottage Gate and has three pitstops along the route: the first at Red Gate (22.2km from start), the second at Pig Trough Bridge (45.2kms) and the last at Ford Gravel Pit (68.2kms).
The final leg into Hanmer Springs is behind a police vehicle.
Tim said the shingle road event requires all mowers to have their blades removed.
‘‘It’s very up and down, some very big hills,’’ Tim said.
‘‘It’s a lovely trip, lovely scenery, a lovely place.’’
The forecast as of earlier this week for Saturday was for sleet/showers with a low of three degrees.
Tim said the hope was for warm weather but preparation was key.
‘‘As they say, people with cancer do it hard, so we’ve got to be prepared.’’
Training has comprised mowing flat lawns. They have a Hustler 5DX ‘zero turn’ mower to use.
‘‘I can turn without even basically moving…that will turn on six pence,’’ Tim said.
The machine has a 20-litre tank, for about five-and-a-half hours mowing.
And they will take 40-litres of fuel to be on the safe side.
– The Mowsworth Rampage is an 86km lawnmower ride from Molesworth to Hanmer Springs to raise money for Cancer Society Nelson Tasman and Nelson Tasman Hospice. Support the Grassroot Gangsters at mowsworthrampage.co.nz
