Another year, another zombie run in Tampa!

Everything started off fine this year.  Happy faces all around.

But then some of the runners started acting a little strange.  No offense, but people just weren’t looking all that healthy.  Myself included.  That’s what I get for wearing a dress to a run. How are you going to outrun zombies in a dress?  And so I became a zombie. So sad.

I’ve been lucky enough to run in the 5K Zombie run for years, but this was my first time as a zombie. OMG Fun.  Since my partner in crime was not allowed to run due to surgery a couple days before we switched from runners to zombies kind of last minute.  I mean, plus there were those bites.

Turns out being a zombie is AWESOME. Much more fun than it looks on The Walking Dead.  I didn’t even get an arrow to the head or anything.  Want to take it easy? Just stand dead center and moan about it.  Want to get rid of an excess of energy?  Well there are all those tasty looking humans to try to catch. Being a zombie can actually be MORE work than being a runner when a long wave of humans goes by!

Being on the zombie team was every bit as much adult recess as being a runner.  Maybe even more because you are hanging out with strangers trying to strategize about taking down the next horde of humans. Not to mention the extremely scientific discussions regarding why there aren’t more retired age zombies in the movies and why there really should be. Amongst other philosophical discussions while awaiting the next victims.

I got to say, we were pretty good at being the running dead.

Want to try the zombie life?  Take a look and see where you can catch The 5K Zombie Run next! You’ll have to be in Florida though, because these runs are put on by a local Tampa company.

The 5K Color Blast is coming to Tampa (actually Lake Park in Lutz, but whatever) November 11th! If that date sounds familiar it’s because it’s the same day and location as The 5K Zombie run. Coincidence?  I think not.  It’s because Monster Runs LLC is putting on both runs / parties. They’ll also be in Sarasota October 25th, the day after The 5K Zombie run there.

Know whats cool?  If you sign up for both The 5K Color Blast and The 5K Zombie Run at the same time you get an extra ‘combo’ medal. So if you run for the bling you are in luck!  Check it out. You know you love your running bling.

What else is cool?  This is a color run / trail run hybrid.  You’re fine with a jogging or large wheeled stroller if you’re running with young-uns, it won’t be mountain hiking or anything, but it does add a fun change from your average run.

I went to Monster Runs LLC’s color run last year with my usual running partners, we had way too much fun. They may not make it this year though, they are busy preparing for a little sister they are expecting soon after.

In case all of that cool isn’t enough (you are being SO difficult!) I have a pair of tickets to give away.  The winner will be contacted next Tuesday, you’ll just need to register by October 1st.

Here! Enter here!

Can’t decide if you want to go?  Watch this and then sign up, don’t forget to use code ZEN5 to get $5 off your entry. You’re welcome.

Guess what time of year it (almost) is. Zombie time! I’m seeing Halloween stuff in my Facebook feed, I’m already looking forward to the Walking Dead starting back up, and it’s time to get your tickets for The 5K Zombie Run. Yay!

The 5K Zombie Run will be in Sarasota Saturday October 25th at Nathan Benderson Parkand and in Tampa Saturday November 14th at Lake Park.

I ran in The 5K Zombie Run the last two years, it’s a little like playing chase on the playground in grade school. But all of the so called adults around you are making horrible zombie jokes, and you will too.  Trust me.

The folks at Monster Runs LLC were nice enough to send me codes for 2 race entries to give away, and they can be used at either the Sarasota or the Tampa run.  I’m going to give them away as a pair, because who wants to face zombies alone? Just click the Rafflecopter link below and enter. The contest ends Thursday the 11th, I’ll notify the winner by email Friday.

Enter to win!

All participants will receive a t-shirt, finisher medal, tattoo, photos, a car decal and entry to the post-race apocalypse party. Yay apocalypse party!

This is the second year that the family and I did Color Me Rad en masse.  We had a couple of different faces this time (same day as SAT testing), but everyone that goes to Color Me Rad is going to want to come back and run it again.

This year we even got my mom to run it – she decided that if the twins could do it at age 3 she had this.  And she did!  The only problem is with this as a first race you’ll have a hard time finding future races to live up to the precedent Color Me Rad sets!  Especially this year.

Bigger, Badder, Radder is no joke.  Twice the color stations, gel (shot from water guns and cannons!) AND the free photos after the event. Seriously?  To top all that off several of the color stations actually had people on each side with different colors, so you were TRULY not getting through without being turned into something akin to a running rainbow.

Before and After photos tell the story pretty well.

What’s funny is the two on the right went to prom that night. They went to the run determined not to get too colored up. Which I took as a challenge. All it took was asking one person throwing color to be sure to get my niece, next thing you know the two of them were having color wars every time I turned around. Just another reason why having a ton of teenagers in the family is underrated!

Oh, and just in case you were worried, they cleaned up just fine. (Told you so, but didn’t really know for sure…)

We ran in the very last group, which the race people were nice enough to let go WAY after the original time due to the fact that apparently my family isn’t the only ones who forgot how to estimate time that morning.  Just another reason to love the Color Me Rad  people, we got there 10 minutes after the last run should have gone, a result of getting three car loads of people headed in the same direction at the same time.  Three ring circuses have got nothing on this family, you should see our holidays when there are 4 times more people.

Anyways, since we started in the last group and ran with 4 year olds we were some of the last people to finish too. We only caught the tail end of the after party, but the older kids ran ahead (am I allowed to call 20 year old+ people kids?) and they had an awesome time.  They got some great videos too, but we seem to have misplaced the charge for the GoPro so there will be no sharing of videos for a while.

Anyways, to make a long story short ( I know, too late for that) if Color Me Rad is coming anywhere near you you should go. Regardless of age or ability this race is tons of fun for everyone.

Disclosure: I received race entries through the Tampa Bay Bloggers’s partnership with Color Me Rad in exchange for writing a review.  All opinion are my own of course.

So. You may or may have noticed if you’ve read much here that I kind of have a thing for color runs.  Why? Well, for one thing these are my running partners:

They love color runs so much that this year their birthday party was Color Me 4 – complete with a color run around the park.

So what’s the biggest, best-est (yes, that’s a word. Stop mocking me!) color run coming? How about Color Me Rad? Of course it is.  This year they’re going to have DOUBLE the color- powder AND color gel. How cool is that?  Very, that’s how cool.

Check this out:

OK, yes that would have been better set to Slipknot but I had nothing to do with the music choice.  I think the point is it looks like a whole lotta fun.  So you should probably sign up to win a pair of tickets to the Tampa run! The winner will be emailed next Wednesday morning.

Enter here: Rafflecopter Color Me Rad giveaway

Here’s the link if you want all the details, but here’s the basics:

Saturday, April 18th, 2015 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Florida State Fairgrounds
4800 U.S. 301
Tampa, FL 33610

Your entry includes a t-shirt, a pair of knee-highs, a color pack, the run of course and free photos.  I love free photos!

Just in case you don’t win, want to get your tickets NOW, or just want more than 2, here’s a code for 40% off the Tampa run. How are you gonna beat that?

Disclosure: I received race entries through the Tampa Bay Bloggers’s partnership with Color Me Rad in exchange for this giveaway and for writing a review.

Guess what time it is if you’re in the Tampa area?  5K Zombie Run time! (every time I use the word time without numbers Hammer Time comes unbidden into my mind, which is both sad and awesome.)

I did this run last year and the year before, and both times the only thing I had to complain about was that I immediately wanted to do it again. Badly. February 28th the zombies will be coming back to the Tampa area, and you know I will be there!

This time is a little different, because this time I was given an entry to run and an entry to give away for the run.  Lucky me, lucky you! If you’re in the Tampa area anyways.

Enter to win a race giveaway here: Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you ever run a zombie run? Long story short, you can run as a human OR as a zombie, either way you know it’ll be fun.  Even if you DON’T live. Which I haven’t yet.

If you are a runner you get 3 flags (like in flag football) on a belt and the goal is to get to the end of the 5K with at least one flag left.  Lost all your flags? You can pick up extras in the safe zones. Even if you lose those too you go home with a t-shirt and an awesome medal so really it’s a win/win situation!

They’re also having a costume contest, spectators are free, and there will be free photos after the race as well. Yay! They even have free gear check, which I think ALL runs should have, but they don’t always. Oh, and don’t forget the “post-race Apocalypse party complete with music, food, great vendors and a fun atmosphere.”

Check out their web page for more info, and don’t forget to like their Facebook page for updates.

If you aren’t feeling particularly lucky or you need more than one ticket sign up on Active.com and be sure to use code 5ZEN for $5 off your run!

The Color Run’s kaleidoscope tour is wrapping up.  The year 2015 will bring a whole new thing.  What thing? I don’t know but I bet it will be great.

The point is, you can still get in on the 2014 Kaleidoscope Tour in Clearwater, they will be here December 7th! Truth be told, I already ran in The Color Run Kaleidoscope Tour back in January.  But I had so much fun I’m doing it again.  In January I ran with my kids, this year I’m going to do a little more running and a little less fooling around (that last part was a was a lie) and run it with my sister. This is the same sister I talked in to doing a spontaneous mud run with me, I’m thinking we’ll have a blast.

The Color Run is still the only run I’ve ever done that was on actual roads.  It was pretty neat just because it was different.  Yes, I know most races are probably done on streets but not the ones I do.  🙂

So the question of the day is should you run The Color Run too? Well obviously I think so because I only write about things I like.  But do YOU think so?

From the Color Run’s site:

“Less about your 10-minute-mile and more about having the time of your life, The Color Run is a five-kilometer, un-timed race in which thousands of participants, or “Color Runners”, are doused from head to toe in different colors at each kilometer. With only two rules, the idea is easy to follow:

1. Wear white at the starting line
2. Finish plastered in color!”

To be serious I’d kill for a 10 minute mile, but whatever.  Even if you have never run before in your life you can wear white and get plastered in color by the end of this run, trust me.  I’ve seen people walk the entire race with a double stroller and I’ve seen people actually race this thing but what I haven’t seen is someone not having a good time at The Color Run.  Oh ya, and I also saw a unicorn guy.  No, I’m not explaining that one.

So, if you are in Tampa come on out and run with me, if you are not in Tampa check out their site to see if The Color Run 2014 Kaleidoscope Tour will be coming your way.  Here is where you can see if they are coming to you and sign up if you’d like.

Don’t tell me this doesn’t look fun!  Come out and play…

Also, check out this DIY t-shirt weaving tutorial they have on their blog. I didn’t even know The Color Run had a blog, there is some pretty cool stuff over there.

Disclosure: I have received two free race entries in exchange for posting about The Color Run. As is the usual all opinions are my own.

Oh, I almost forgot. You can use promo code COLOR5OFF to get $5 off a registration to ANY city. Important: code must be entered at time of registration, cannot be retro-applied. Also please type the code in, do not copy/paste. Not valid with other discounts or promotions.

Last week I went to ElectroDash with all 3 of my kids (12, 14, 20) and my oldest’s friend.  Not one of them are runners, but when I showed them the ElectroDash 5K website  it took them all of 30 seconds to be all in. Since it was a Friday night and I work in Tampa I had them meet me out there and we all drove in together to save on the parking fee.

The older two ran ahead and I put my 12 year old in charge of when we ran and when we walked.  This was not a run made for dashing through, this was a run made for having fun and stopping to check things out.  We ran the run and stopped to look at some of the lights, and I found that my Children of the Corn were all in total no photos mode .  They decided it would be great fun to avoid a good picture at any cost the entire night. Also, I had auto-flash on my camera. Oh well.

As much fun as we had during the run I think we had even more fun afterwards. They had a DJ, lots of techno music, and lots of random glow-things being thrown into and by the crowd all over the place.  Even my 12 year old, who’s favorite thing in the whole world is to show how bored he is at anything that mom suggests finally broke down and got into it.

Now that’s a win!!

If you want to go you can see if they are coming to your area here.

If you go wear lots of glow-stuff and stay for the after party. I heard them mention they had beer somewhere too, but since I was doing the family thing I didn’t go look.  Oh, and a tip that may be obvious but I didn’t even think about, turn the flash off on your camera before you get there!

By now it’s beginning to sound like I’ve given up on running completely.  Not true!  I have, however, done most of my running inside on the treadmill and I have not got back to any kind of running schedule yet. But I wasn’t letting that be an excuse to avoid a great run last weekend!

Last Sunday Hog Wild had their Off Road 8 miler and 5K. It was held at Hillsborough River State Park. I’d never been there before but I am beyond a doubt going back, just look at this place!

This is the first non-obstacle run besides The Color Run that I’ve done, and it was really a different experience.

For one thing, there wasn’t that many people and there was only 1 wave.  I like multiple waves, it means I can be the slowest person out there and still not finish last. I’ve only run once since Castle Canyon two weeks ago, so to say I could have been better prepared is an understatement.

I had three goals for this run.

1) Don’t get lost (I do that, and this was off road so…)

2) Don’t be last (wouldn’t be the end of the world, but a good goal)

3) and don’t fall down, though I didn’t hold out much hope for this one

I managed all 3!  I did majorly trip at least 3 times over roots and came so close to hitting the ground I don’t have a clue how I didn’t, but whatever.  The course was marked pretty well, so getting lost wasn’t too much of an option after all.  It was the don’t be last part that made it different and fun.

Since the run was in the woods you couldn’t see who was ahead of or behind you, but you could hear them!  As little running as I’ve done lately I walked a good bit more than I would have liked to, but when we heard someone coming up behind us we would start running again, or if we heard someone in front of us it was motivation to get going and pass them. I didn’t expect to have so much fun with this part! I always tell people I don’t have a competitive bone in my body, but maybe I do have a little one or two. Long story short my son and I decided we will start looking for more trail runs.  They won’t replace mud runs/ obstacle runs as my definite favorite and motivation to keep running, but strangely they just may be the thing to motivate me to try and run BETTER.

Oh, can’t forget the race bling!

So, if you are a runner what do you prefer?  Mud runs, trail runs, or straight up road races?

If you aren’t a runner have you ever surprised yourself by feeling competitive in a situation you didn’t expect to?

This race was pretty simple.  No obstacles.  No timers. No roads. No way out without getting dangerously close to many, many zombies….

Nothing like sprinting through a small zombie horde to get your heart racing!  I think I ran faster during this un-timed run than ever before – thank goodness we were able to walk between the zombies.  That’s the biggest part of the fun of these runs, trying to dodge between zombies chasing you, zig-zagging back and forth at top speed.  It’s not everyday an adult can get away with that you know.  The other half of the fun is everyone there is obviously having a blast and really, really nice.  This is the second time I’ve run this and both times every single person I met was super friendly.

I started wondering if I could get my kids to dress like zombies and get them to jump out randomly on my regular scheduled runs. Would my neighbors come running out to help?

There were a lot more zombies this year than last year. The run was at Lake Park in Lutz, Florida which is like 30 minutes from my house and I’ve never even heard of it before. I’ll definitely be visiting here again! I’d even swear I saw a lake through the trees at one point, I must go back exploring.

The bad thing about a trail run with zombies?  Well, a trail isn’t exactly a road.  If a zombie comes running up behind you (some were original Dawn of the the Dead slow and some were new Dawn of the Dead fast) you can’t exactly get through the crowd in front of you.  It’s kind of like my driving mantra. You can’t go faster than whoever is in front of you, try as you might (stupid tailgaters). However, in a moment of zombie induced panic I did try and get past the guy in front of me for a minute, then I had to stop and apologize.  He didn’t care a bit but I felt a wee bit dumb.

There was no mud and not too much blood so no need for an after picture, but here we are before the run.  Heck ya I was proud of my I ♥ Daryl t-shirt.

Speaking of blood, they had a blood splatter station for the zombies.  Dexter would have been so happy.

One other thing of note – this is the second time in a row I started a run with shoes and ended without them.  I wore the same shoes I always do to an organized run but this time they tore up the backs of my feet from the heels all the way to the top of my shoes.  Maybe because this wasn’t a mud run and my feet were dry?  I have no idea but I think I may be officially done with running in shoes, obstacles or not.  I’ll spare you the gory pictures (you’re welcome) but trust me when I say it was quite the lesson learned.  And contrary to what I would have thought only one single person even seemed to notice the lack of shoes, and she just asked if I was a barefoot runner.

What else could there possibly be to add to the good times?  Superman Walks founder Thomas Mills was there.  If you haven’t heard of Superman Walks you should check out their site, it’s a great organization. I’d love to walk with them one of these times.

And of course you can’t forget the racing bling.