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.

In Which We Run

So, since I really, really wanted to lose weight and get in shape this year, Twin, Brother and I decided to give the Couch to 5K a try. We actually completed it two weeks ago and it was both hard and easy.

There was one week where you're running for 8 minutes, then walking for like 3, but at the end of the week you suddenly have to run for 20 min, which is a HUGE increase, but we all did it, and once we crossed that bridge, the last few weeks weren't bad.

Anyway, while we were doing all this, we discovered the wonderful awesomeness that is Run For Your Lives.


Run for Your Lives is a 5K, with obstacles. Oh, and zombies chase you.

Once Brother discovered this, back in January, we KNEW we had to compete. So we're signed up for the June 2nd Minneapolis run.

We're all super excited, both because we'll be running our first ever 5K (and actually be able to run the 5K) and also because there's zombies chasing you, trying to steal your flags.

If you make it out at the end with at least one flag remaining, you're considered a survivor and you get a survivor shirt. No flags means you died and you get a zombie shirt.

So we still have two months to train for it. Weather permitting (which is questionable right now) we're going to try running outside at least once this week, so wish us luck!

Here's a video of a 2012 Run For Your Lives in Atlanta. I'm just crossing my fingers that we'll have no rain, unlike them.

What about you? Would you participate?

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