In the run-up to the new "Star Wars" movie, fans ran to theaters to reserve their seats.

Gene Lu, center, shown running in the 2013 New York City Marathon.

Northwest Portlander Gene Lu was running, too -- all over the city, in fact -- to craft an homage to the series, which he says had a profound influence on his childhood and adult life.

Lu spent several weeks planning and running routes shaped like "Star Wars" characters and other miscellany. He recorded the runs using the GPS-powered Nike+ app and posted the images online.

Washington County-based Nike is a longtime client of New York-based R/GA, the advertising agency where Lu works, and its work includes the Nike+ app. But a spokeswoman for the company said these runs are outside the scope of that work.

Lu's hobby of tracing pop-culture symbols with his running started during the long break between the third and fourth seasons of Game of Thrones. To pass the time, he started planning runs that traced symbols for the various families grappling for power in that show.

As the new chapter in the "Star Wars" saga approached, he turned his attention to images from the series' original trilogy. Lu, 35, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the original "Star Wars" was the first movie he saw on VHS tape.

"I do believe that 'Star Wars' is a part of my DNA," Lu said. "As a child, I would construct imaginary worlds based on 'Star Wars.'" That, he said, helped lead to his professional work in design.

Starting with a sketch of the shape he wants to draw, Lu looks for areas on a map that match critical elements. (Ladd's Addition, in particular, seems to have come in handy to create a blocky TIE Fighter and the grimace of a storm trooper's mask.) Then he creates turn-by-turn directions to help him stay on target.

He's posted those directions online for anyone compelled to run 15.5 miles in the shape of a Darth Vader mask.

There are more "Star Wars" runs to come, said Lu, who hasn't yet seen the new movie but plans to over the holidays. "It'd make for a great post-'Star Wars' run treat."

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus