The Shire to Mordor (and back) Fellowship

Hi guys, a few of us fellow MFPers were discussing in another thread about possibly creating a group to walk/run the distance from The Shire to Mordor as found in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. If you are unfamiliar with Mordor, or Lord of the Rings, please see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_(Middle-earth)
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordor

After some initial searching discovered a group on MFP called 'To Mordor.' It appears that once there, this group is staying at Mordor. However, in the spirit of and honor of our good friend Bilbo Baggins, we want to take a loftier approach and begin a journey 'There and Back Again,' essentially a round trip journey to and from Mordor.

Some good information of the journey is here:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/23/walking/

Theres even a fully explorable 3d world map laid out in the Outerra game engine:
http://forum.outerra.com/index.php?topic=1491.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLHHS5Q_m0g

The distance according to the above journey link:
you need to walk a total of 1779 miles to get from Hobbiton to Mt. Doom.

Multiply that by 2 for the round trip and you are at 3,558 miles.

What it boils down to is that we are a fellowship of walkers/joggers/runners wanting to band together and motivate each other toward this lofty goal.

I've created this thread for suggestions and ideas regarding how we go about accomplishing this goal, both in how are we structuring the group and what our plan is to execute this mission.

Chime in, tell us we're crazy, tell us you want to join the fellowship, say hi!! :)


EDIT:

Created a bare-bones group *(will fill in details later)*
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/19749-the-shire-to-mordor-and-back-a-fellowship
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Replies

  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
    Sounds like fun!! Add me!
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    are we looking at combined effort...or individual goals but shared success?

    just thinking i may fall short of 1179 miles this year lol
  • Ummm 1179 miles might be a little much, but I have a HUGE love of The Fellowship...so help me figure this out :D
  • The whole trip has been broken down on the Nerdfitness website, like this: http://home.insightbb.com/~eowynchallenge/Tools/Bag_end/bag_end.html

    ...but that's a bit restrictive :-)

    Combined effort actually sounds really great! I have added a goal to walk there and back and the bonus trip to my Runkeeper, and gave myself like six years to complete it :-) But I would still love to participate in a group effort!
  • isa75
    isa75 Posts: 156 Member
    Love this idea.

    Is there some sort of deadline date to get to Mordor and back? Is this a combined effort or each of us working towards it individually?

    Google spreadsheet? I have used that with others for other challenges on here and it seems to work pretty well as long as there are moderators to maintain it.

    Participants in the challenge can enter their weekly/monthly walking distance. If it is a combined effort then it is easy enough to tabulate.
  • Kamikazeflutterby
    Kamikazeflutterby Posts: 770 Member
    This idea gives me nerd tingles. In other words, IN!
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
    Unsure of the logistics, but totally on board with the concept. Count me in!:drinker:
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    Thinks a group should be formed...and if im assuming right..there would be updates that logged the group in at various places in Middle Earth as you journeyed..so perhaps the weight lifters and other non walking type activities could be logged as events along the way.. for example...45 min of lifting = a rousing attack by spiders.

    if this has already been considered then ignore...lol if its to much,...im just getting my geek on.

    either way im in
  • NerdFitness is such a great site!
  • KristinaB83
    KristinaB83 Posts: 440 Member
    That's a whole lot of walking! But I'm in!
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  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    If this is the will of the council, then Justin would see it done! You have my steel!
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member
    You had me at Shire. I'm in.
  • g0at1982
    g0at1982 Posts: 89 Member
    Thinks a group should be formed...and if im assuming right..there would be updates that logged the group in at various places in Middle Earth as you journeyed..so perhaps the weight lifters and other non walking type activities could be logged as events along the way.. for example...45 min of lifting = a rousing attack by spiders.

    if this has already been considered then ignore...lol if its to much,...im just getting my geek on.

    either way im in

    dude you are SO in the right place!


    I love the idea of a combined effort tabulated in a spreadsheet or something similar. Really cool the idea mentioned in the quote above too. Deadline? I guess we'll have to collectively decide that. I would say 'a year' but I'm pretty sure that will be easy to reach with a bunch of people. Maybe 3 or 4 months? I'm not really sure.
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    glad to see there are other groups...however...in to see if we can get off to a new start!..OP?
  • The other groups have different routes, actually, so this group would be a new one.

    As for deadline, do we need one? As fast as we can as combined effort :-)
  • Cameron_1969
    Cameron_1969 Posts: 2,855 Member
    How 'bout we go to the lonely mountain... . half way there we get to hop in barrells and just float for awhile. . then when we get there we can shoot bows and arrows. .
  • My nerdy self can't resist! I'll just have to log here as well as fitocracy.
  • g0at1982
    g0at1982 Posts: 89 Member
    glad to see there are other groups...however...in to see if we can get off to a new start!..OP?

    Agree wholeheartedly

    Want to make this a combined effort, instead of a challenge. I think that is what I take from this thread.

    This gon be good
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    How 'bout we go to the lonely mountain... . half way there we get to hop in barrells and just float for awhile. . then when we get there we can shoot bows and arrows. .

    barrel riding burns how many calories?
  • beebeewho
    beebeewho Posts: 27 Member
    I would love to know any guesstimates for how long bilbo's journey took, though for some parts of it they did have horses and ponies.
  • Cameron_1969
    Cameron_1969 Posts: 2,855 Member
    I don't run much. . Can I count a crossfit class as somewhere between 1 and 3 miles depending on how much sweat is pouring out of me at the end?
  • How 'bout we go to the lonely mountain... . half way there we get to hop in barrells and just float for awhile. . then when we get there we can shoot bows and arrows. .

    barrel riding burns how many calories?

    Ohhhh the barrel ride could be like an event like a 5K, 10K, or something!!!!
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
    How 'bout we go to the lonely mountain... . half way there we get to hop in barrells and just float for awhile. . then when we get there we can shoot bows and arrows. .

    barrel riding burns how many calories?

    It's not the barrel riding - it's the Orc fighting that burns the calories!

    either way I'm in
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    you could transfer the calorie burn into a distance
  • g0at1982
    g0at1982 Posts: 89 Member
    I would love to know any guesstimates for how long bilbo's journey took, though for some parts of it they did have horses and ponies.


    One of the groups posted above had an estimate... there and back again something like 1950 miles




    Created a quick group so people can start adding themselves to the Fellowship:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/19749-the-shire-to-mordor-and-back-a-fellowship
  • Awesome idea!! I want to join, too!
  • fitgirlandfoodie
    fitgirlandfoodie Posts: 1,014 Member
    I finished the Hobbit challenge of Bag End to the Lonely Mountain (900 odd miles) and have just started the Shire to Rivendell part of the LORT challenge - it's a great way to keep yourself motivated :D
  • g0at1982
    g0at1982 Posts: 89 Member
    I love the way you guys think!
  • StaceyJ2008
    StaceyJ2008 Posts: 411 Member
    This thread feels like home.