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.

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!

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!

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.