"I made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."

[arbusto_baboso]

What is a Kessel? CAN it run? How do you induce one to run? And why the misuse of a measure of distance as a measure of time?

[Deja Q]

1. Kessel is a place he smuggled items to.

In la-la star wars land, a parsec is a measure of time. :shrug:

[mzteris]

2. a Kessel is

a SF writer and professor at NC State University. He holds the Sycamore Hill workshops.

the "Kessel Run" was named for him. (He was also a physics major - so it's something of a joke.)

[Strong Atheist]

3. I have heard this explaination before:

<snip>

The Falcon is often connected to the Kessel Run, a pathway from Kessel past the Maw Black Hole Cluster used by smugglers to transport precious Glitterstim spice.<8> Solo in A New Hope brags that the Falcon made the Kessel Run in "less than twelve parsecs". As this is a unit of distance, not time, different explanations have been provided. In the Expanded Universe, it refers to his ability to move the ship closer to the Maw's black holes and therefore cut the distance traveled.<8> On the A New Hope DVD audio commentary, Lucas comments that, in the Star Wars universe, traveling through hyperspace requires careful navigation to avoid stars, planets, asteroids, and other obstacles,<9> and that since no long-distance journey can be made in a straight line, the "fastest" ship is the one that can plot the "most direct course", thereby traveling the least distance.<9> The novelization backs away and changes the line to "twelve Standard Time Units."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Falcon

[MrSlayer]

4. Solo was lying about that.

It's in the script.

[Orrex]

5. It's one of the muscles that helps keep you from pissing yourself

[Throd]

6. Big deal, I can make a Kessler run in five minutes!

Smooth as silk...

[Forkboy]

7. A Kessel run is when you score on a breakaway in hockey.