Why Han Solo's 12 Parsec Kessel Run is Not Only Relevant, but Factually Correct

Or,  How I know I'm an Uber Geek...

Everyone who's watched Star Wars ( And hopefully if you've only ever watched one of the movies, it was the original) has heard Han Solo say "You've never heard of the Millenium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs." His boastful comment is generally thought to be incorrect. It's not.

The reason people think it's incorrect is because he's asked if it's a fast ship and that's his response. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time, however, the "Kessel Run" a smuggling route from the planet Kessel to the Si'Klaata cluster is not about speed. 

Between Kessel and the cluster lies the Maw... an area full of black holes, so the Kessel Run is usually a route that covers eighteen parsecs. By doing the run in under twelve, Han took himself closer to the black hole cluster than anyone else had to that point (someone else beats his record later on, but he and Luke will reclaim his title).

This drawing is not to scale in any way... it's just a basic visual.

So when Han says his famously thought wrong comment, he's not telling them how fast the ship can go, but that he's ballsy enough to get by the Empire.

(As a side note, I feel that this is a comment on his ship's speed, since your ship would have to be pretty fast to escape the gravitational pull of the black holes.)