I am still planning on doing the race THIS saturday at 1pm EST (17:00 UTC). I think damage boosting, skipping unnecessary items (like Lens of Truth or the Tunics), and save/reset warping are all completely allowed. If there's some disagreement, we can discuss it before starting the race on Saturday.
As long as you can play the game and record it, it doesn't matter what you play it on, whether it's the N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, or an emulator.