So. Much. FUN! This is a zombie infested 5k(3.2 miles). The zombies are people who have paid to participate as a zombie. Run for Your Lives does their make-up and gives them instruction on what to do and where to go. You run, they chase you, and try to steal your flags. Your entry fee covers your flag belt, the race, a free t-shirt at the end, a free beer and a medal that either says«survivor» or «infected» depending on how you did. It’s cheaper if you sign up early and if you want to run AND be zombie you can do both and get a discounted running price of just $ 45. The zombies looked like a ton of fun and the hubs and I want to be zombies next year! Parking was a breeze. Absolutely no traffic or wait and we walked right into the race. I had heard of mile long hikes into the race area but that was not the case at this location. Very easy and organized. The race starts in the«safe zone» an area where the race ends as well. There were carnival type food venders and a stage with live music and a DJ hosting the event. There is free bag check. I strongly recommend bringing a full change of clothes, body wash, a hair brush, a towel and clean shoes and socks. After the race you will be FILTHY and SOAKED in red mud. I brought a large duffle bag with everything I needed and they checked it for free and held it until I needed it after the run. Also recommended is bug spray and sun block. You want to wear shoes that you can run in, nothing that you care too much about. They give you the option to donate your shoes at the end and they go to third world countries. A nice option if washing your trashed shoes is not for you. We checked in and wandered around a bit first. Once you’re there you can run in any wave you want. They don’t check and they don’t care. We got there two hours early as recommended and ended up with an hour and a half to spare so we ran in an earlier wave. The DJ is fun, engages the audience, does zombie trivia and plays fun music. There were bleachers facing the race so you could watch other racers dodging zombies. My only criticism would be that the DJ’s spiel repeated every hour or so so if you’re there for a awhile you’re going to hear the same jokes, same trivia, same music etc. It’s fun to hang out before running and afterwards too so the repeated entertainment was kind of a buzz kill. There are people in their zombie make-up wandering around and people in costume. It was a fun crowd for sure. The race starts with some basic rules, the number one rule being not to hit the zombies. They release you into some fake fog and the race has begun. After reading tons of reviews I think it’s safe to assume that they ALWAYS start you on an epic hill. They want you tired when you face the horde. The crowd will be pumped and everyone hits the hill like mad. DON’T DOIT. Trust me. Take your time, pace yourself because when you hit the first zombies you’ll need to run like hell and you’ll need the energy. The zombies are basically in two places: in fields stanchioned off with police tape and on areas of the trails. The trail guys just groan and lunge at you. I think they are instructed to take it easy because there is really nowhere to run on a trail and zombies probably get punched in those close quarters. The zombies in the fields are the ones to worry about. There will be 10 – 20 at a time spaced about 10 feet apart and they will chase you FAST. It’s best to go with a large group, wait until a hole opens up and bolt through it. Be ready to dodge, weave and pivot. The race gets harder as you go on because less and less people have flags. I died about halfway through and a «medic» gave me a free flag. I lost that too towards the end but my husband still had 2 left in the home stretch. Since only 1 or 2 of our group of 10 had flags you can only imagine how hard it was to keep your flags. There are water stations along the route! I wish somebody would have said that in a review or on the website. There are long stretches of trail with no zombies on them. I think it was because it was muddy and they didn’t want people falling. The race was very well planned, very fun, safe, had some fun obstacles that I won’t divulge(I will say that I was electrocuted TWICE). My husband survived with one flag which I’m telling you was an impressive feat. There was a ton of walking and you really only run in the zombie fields and then it’s a sprint to safety. You do NOT need to be in fantastic shape to run this 5K. In fact, I saw lots of semi heavy guys who made it through with flags. You just have to be able to hike 3 miles and have to be capable of running like hell over short distances. I will definitely go back next year and I’ll try and get a crowd to come with me. Would have been fun with fri
