Monday, June 4, 2012

In Which I Run A 5K (With Zombies)

So I originally posted about Run for Your Lives here, but our race was this weekend and it was both terrible and awesome. It was me, Twin, Brother and our dad competing in the race. Our mom was spectating and trying to snap pics when she could

To start off, I don't really know if there's any sort of way to effectively train for this. I mean, you start by running up a massive hill while dodging zombies, and that pretty much wiped everyone out. Then it was a trek, still uphill. At that point I know we were all thinking this race would be too difficult for us, but after that trek it got really fun. There was a lot of walking, but we did tons of sprinting around zombies.

The obstacles included:
A mud slide
Walls to climb over
Smoke house with electric shock wires
Monkey bars over a water pit
Tubes to crawl through
Barriers to crawl under
A river to walk through
Wall with a rope to climb
Wooden lattice to climb
Balance beam
Cargo net
Giant water slide
Electric fence to crawl under
Zombies to dodge

Brother and me, sliding down the mudslide right past the zombs

Twin and Dad heading over a wall (zomb on the left)


smoke building, filled with hanging electric shock wires. Brother got shocked in the knee


Me coming out of the building while Twin avoids zomb

Twin kicking butt on the monkey bars (not pictured, me, in the water, cleaning off mud)



Giant water slide at the end. 2 seconds of Wheee! Followed by 3 seconds of stark terror. Ends with a smash into a pool of water. Felt like you were a hammer smashing an anvil



Top to bottom: Twin, Dad, me, crawling under electric fence. I got no further and had to be pulled out by twin (stalled on slippery mud while getting shocked)


The cargo net, for me, was the worst. It wasn't that it was so hard to climb up (it was) but that I was just a bit too short to manage it well so when I got to the top, I had troubles reaching the net on the other side with my foot.
We made it really far with our flags but we finally got snagged towards the end, in the final fields of zombies who were really trying hard to get your flags at that point.



Before pic



After pic



So it was exhausting and I'm bruised and banged up and sore, but I would totally do it again. I think the earlier you run, the better, since the course is still fresh and things like the mud slide are really fun instead of painful due to rocks and stuff.


So. First 5K down. Boosh.

24 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You guys are a mess! Think it would be fun, just not sure I could handle the mud.

vic caswell said...

ohmygoodness!!! even dad participated!!! you have the coolest fam ever!!!!! this is sooo nifty. thanks for all the pics! (i would have died somewhere along the whole thing... probably the big hill at the beginning)

Talli Roland said...

That sounds terrifying! Hats off to you and your family for taking part.

Stacy McKitrick said...

What a great family to do this together. I'm lucky to get everyone to the same movie at the theatre!

Rena said...

Okay, that's fantastic. In ABQ they have the warrior dash where people jump through fire, climb over cars, that sort of thing. Running from zombies however... that sounds awesome.

Austin Gorton said...

not pictured, me, in the water, cleaning off mud

Good thinking.

Good thing I didn't do this - I'm pretty sure it would have killed me.

Also, I would have had a hard time not punching a zombie or something.

Kristin Rae said...

Ah! That looks like so much fun!

Maria Zannini said...

Oh, my God, that looks like a blast. I'd love to try that. I get dirty enough just working,, so I might as well have fun doing it.

Good on you and your family!

Kyra Lennon said...

Sounds painful, and yet still totally awesome! Congrats on finishing!

TL Conway said...

I love that this was a family affair. :) You all look like you had a blast, mud, shocks and all!

Matthew MacNish said...

This is beyond awesome. Good for you!

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

use-guys en-you-tee-zee

bwahahaha

Patti said...

That looked like it was a ton of fun. Way better than just running.

Emily R. King said...

Go girl! You're Amazon woman! What fun. You earned every square inch of that dirt. Good for you!

LTM said...

LOL! This is fantastically awesome! And super congrats on making it through your first 5K (w/zombies)! It fits perfectly w/today's theme, btw. Glad to see we're all on the same wavelength... *nom nom nom* :D

Joan Crawford said...

I've heard about these Zombie Races but never imagined it would be so awesome! You still have a flag on at the end -- you must keep this as a status symbol for the impending Zombie Apocalypse. You guys are all adorable and how cool is it your dad did this with you?

Johanna Garth said...

Sooo jealous!! Where do you live? I want to fly in and do the Zombie run with you too!! :)

LD Masterson said...

We SO need one of these in Ohio.

Lola Sharp said...

You guys are BAMFs!!!! So proud of y'all. :D

<3

Anne Ahiers said...

when we read this post next year in prep of the race, lets remind ourselves to put on suntan lotion. and bring sunglasses. and do a lot more sprinting up and down hills

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

You've inspired me to participate in a 5K later this month (I'm going to walk not run)...but if I die because I'm fat, my last thought shall be a fist raised to the heavens saying, "Curse you Sarah Falen! I thought I could do this! Curse you for inspiring me."

Just kidding. Ciao oh my favorite Sarah.

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous. I wish they were having one of these near me. I'd sign up.

Unknown said...

This looks epic! You know this is exactly the kind of thing I'd be in for. I know that a 5k run can be tough, but added to all that I think the exercise alone would kill me, never mind the zombies :)

DL Hammons said...

I remember reading about this same kind of race that Julie Dao ran. All I can say is crazy is going around!! :)

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