O'Connor wrote it to generate interest and to encourage people to think outside the box, as it were, and hopes to attain results whereby people can feel confident about picking his brains.
"Obviously I can't trademark it because it's been around forever but, hopefully, it gives me some credibility over time."
Frankly, his laboratory work stems from the assertion that most people can't run a marathon.
"All the people who run it end up walking," he says, revealing he has 10,000 page viewers on his website waiting to see if his tortoise-and-hare experiment will provide some fizz in the test tube once heated under the Bay Bunsen burner today.
"I want to provide it to a more educated audience rather than just, 'Okay I'm going to do this because I'm going to be faster' but I have a PhD so I do know something."
The alternative way to eclipse the 42.2km distance is to walk over short durations to allow them time to recover a little bit.
It was after the Buller to Gorge Marathon in February that sparked his interest, even though he won it in 2:43.
The 28-year-old had started to fall apart towards the final 10km as he tried to push the threshold of pain.
"I was cramping and getting quite fatigued. If I had just been able to delay that a little bit longer I would have gone at a lot faster time so that where walking comes into it," he says.
Marathoners won't be walking for hours but for a minute or so to use different muscle groups in the body and lowering their heart rate.
"You're allowing for your oxygen demands and you're allowing your biological systems to catch up."
By the time the runners reach the 32km mark you've had a little break so from there "it's all on".
In the six walking blocks in his experiment, the maximum time he's going to lose is 3m 30s if he was running at 6km/h.
"If I tried running it the whole time I might lose 3m 30s anyway so it's like an insurance policy."
O'Connor is quick to throw in a qualifier that the run-walk experiment isn't for everyone.
"I'm going to do it and I'll run a pretty fast time," he says, adding Performance Advantage flies on the end of the slogan of "Bringing sports science to the people".
He wants people to comprehend that on the foundation of scientific research "there's lots of ways to skin a cat", even running a marathon.
"If this guy can do it and run sub 2:40 then I can do better if I'm taking four hours."
While it has an appeal to the hybrid class of athletes but he reckons anyone from high schoolers to checkout operators to lawyers can take excerpts of the experiment to tailor their needs.
"It could go better than expected but there are a lot of variables in running a marathon faster," he says but stresses sports science does factor in those variables.
The walk intervals allow athletes to revisit their blueprint and tweak psychologically, if need be, as well as eat and drink as well as bring their breathing under control.
"When you're just running you're saying, "I'm just going to keep going at this pace all the way, no matter what'."
At this juncture, it's imperative to know O'Connor can comfortably run the distance under three hours.
"If I go sub 2:40 I'll be among the top five," says the bloke who clocked 2:55 in the Wellington Marathon, n although he emphasises the day before the Ironman he had cycled from Palmerston North to the capital as part of the build up.
Take note that athletes will still be wobbly and wasted but it'll be more of a latent reaction than while they are on the course.
It is by no means a novel concept. He can't recall where he first stumbled on to it but the theoretical aspect of such an assertion struck a chord with him.
O'Connor slipped on his sports science hat to inject some realism into it.
Born in Cambridge, he arrived in the Bay as a 14-year-old with his parents, Frank and Carloyn, who live in Havelock North.
He left St John's College in Hastings in 2006 although he has always returned for summers while pursuing tertiary qualifications.
"I was playing rugby until the first year of university so I just wanted a change," says the former St Johns first XV player who had switched to triathlon to become "reasonably good pretty quick".
The Canterbury University biochemistry graduate obtained his honours in sport and science at Massey University in Palmerston North although he spent a year in between in Gold Coast, Australia, trying to train to become a professional triathlete while working.
He is back in Massey University and just submitted his thesis for his doctorate.
"When I started doing my PhD I just didn't have the time for triathlon. I wasn't making any money at the second tier so I just started running because you just need a pair of shorts, shoes and a singlet."
Besides, running wasn't that time-consuming and slotted in well in his hectic academic schedule but also it was his strongest of the three triathlon disciplines which include cycling and swimming.
Early this year he started coaching in Manawatu, helping high-performance athletes and also advising on health and fitness to the community.
For the record his parents weren't in the loop about today's experiment.
"No I haven't told them. You get over it. People are like, 'What the hell are you doing?'
"You're a good runner so why don't you just do it?," says O'Connor who finished sixth here last year.
NUMBERS GAME
4200: Competitors and counting as entries closed late last night.
25,000: Airline lollies.
4000: Bottles of 750ml Sileni Sauvignon Blanc.
5250: Litres of water.
4250: Litres of Pure Nutrition hydration.
2000: Glow-in-the-dark Avis wristbands.
48,000: Cups.
3500: Bananas.
6km: Barrier tape.
140: Portaloos.
1.7km: Fencing.
56: Speakers.
342: Volunteers.
18: Wonderful landowners.
4200: Airline race bags.
16,800: Safety pins.
