Getting Infected

     

I had been toying with the idea of doing a mud run.  I spent a few years in the Army and I always enjoyed the obstacle courses.  I knew some people that had participated in a few local mud runs and they all seemed to have fun.  To top it all off, I share the public’s current fascination with zombies.  So when David offered to let us join him for Run For Your Lives, I told him I would give it some serious thought. 

When I got home I asked my oldest son if he wanted to do a zombie run.  “Sure,” he said.  He too is a fan of zombies.  After another moment or two he said, “What’s a zombie run.”  I explained that it was like a mud run but with zombies chasing you.  “Cool.”

So we were sold.  However, we still didn't know exactly what we were in for.  What I did know was that needed to get off the elliptical and start actually running outside.  Not knowing what kind of terrain we would be running on, or the obstacles, the first run we went on was a 3.5 mile course that took us through a wooded path, down a grassy path and then out onto the streets.  Because my knees were in no shape for running on pavement, or so I thought, even on the streets we kept to the grassy area next to the sidewalk.  At the halfway point was a construction zone with a large dirt mound.  Being that we live in North Florida, I figured this was the best way to train for a hill run as everything else around here is flat. 

I remember getting back from those first couple of runs proud of myself for having made it, drenched in sweat, and completely out of breath.  It is a little funny to me now because I run that distance for my ‘short’ runs.  I’ve come a long, long way. 

The next week when I told David we would be happy to join him, he asked if we had watched any of the videos.  I told him we had not.  David suggested that we watch some YouTube videos so that we know what we are in for.  Now we were really excited for the race! 

Watching the videos revealed a few things about Run For YourLives.  First, it was going to be amazing.  As expected, we would need to be able to run the course and do the obstacles.  What hadn’t really occurred to us was the need for burst speed.  Running is one thing; getting chased is whole other thing entirely. 

During the coming weeks I ran on the weekends, played soccer with the kids on two nights, and did an hour and ten minutes on the elliptical on the other three nights.  The running was getting much easier and I started to remember why I used to like running.  I looked forward to those moments, challenging myself to make it over the dirt mound four times, then six, then eight, ten and finally twelve. What I truly enjoyed was the headspace, some time with my thoughts.  As it turns out, running calms me; it has a meditative effect.  It is that calming effect that leads to the itch that must be scratched.

The race was set to take place on November 17.  By the time the 16^th rolled around, we were physically ready for the challenge.  What started to get into my head was the Zombie factor.  I am not easily spooked but the zombies were starting to concern me.  I wasn’t afraid of them in the conventional sense but the chase had me worried.   I didn’t want to fail; I wanted to finish without be infected.  My son and David had similar apprehensions.  The only one who seemed unphased was David’s boy.   

When we checked in on race day we were issued our timing chip, our runner’s bib, and most importantly our health pack.  The way Run For Your Lives works is that runners are given a belt that has three flags on Velcro tabs attached to it.  If you lose all your flags, you are infected.  Along the course there are health packs with additional flags to revive you.  All you need to do is finish with one flag.  One flag.  Just one. 

We were in the third wave.  Walking around before the race we learned a little more about what we were in for and how we might survive.  Originally my plan was to just flee.  However, by watching a few runners on the course, it became pretty obvious that a spinning dodge was a pretty successful strategy for the lurchers.  Turns out there are two types of zombies: lurchers and chasers.  Lurchers sort of stand in the path and lunge at the runners as they try to dart past them.  The other type of zombie is the chaser.  Pure speed and a meat shield work best against these particular zombies. 

Another thing we learned was that we should have been wearing tutus.  Hiding your flags, rolling them up in your belt, or stuffing them in your shorts are all considered bad form if not outright cheating, but losing them in a sea of toile seems like a perfectly legitimate strategy regardless of its effect on your pride.  It is, after all, about survival.
 

The third thing we learned was from another runner.  This guy had just finished the first wave.  He was a smallish, wiry guy that looked like he could run and run and run.  He also bore striking resemblance to Tony Stark of Iron Man fame.  David asked him how it went.  He told us there were bunches of zombies out there, way more than he expected.  He also said they were fast, really fast.  To his point he admitted that he had been infected.  This actually put me at ease.  I figured if this guy managed to lose all his flags there was no shame if I lost all of mine.  The stress was off and it was time to have fun.

When the runners are corralled for their waves, you are assembled in one of three chutes.  We were in the ‘main course’ chute, for no other reason than that is the one we picked.  The other choices were ‘appetizer’ or ‘dessert’.   The run started out somewhat slow.  The strategy of quite a few ‘runners’ was to walk the course and just sprint through the zombie zones.  Soon after coming out of the chute we ran into our first group of lurchers.  The path was quite wide and evading them was fairly easy.   After that the path narrowed significantly and the zombie count increased.  It was through this section that David became little more than a red streak on the video I was trying to shoot.  I honestly didn’t know he could run that fast.  My son and I got separated around this time, but I heard him yell “COME AT ME BRO!” to one of the zombies.  Soon after he caught up with me and let me know that he had lost his first flag. 

Throughout the course there are infected zones and places where you are just running, or walking, as the case may be.  The zombies are expertly made up.  Some of my favorites were the requisite creepy clown, a bride, and a host of hospital personnel.  There were also some fast food icons (Zombies HATE fast food…they are too hard to catch), one of which was Colonel Sanders.  This was the only zombie that talked during the whole course but he was playing the part brilliantly taunting the runners and then chasing them down.  There were also the obstacles to contend with.  I was quite pleased with the level of difficulty of the obstacles.  They were difficult enough to present a challenge and provided us with the opportunity to get wet, muddy, and covered in sand.  I found that the maze was particularly difficult, especially because there were zombies in it.  The one obstacle that I perhaps didn’t find difficult enough was the shock room.  Inside this enclosed space there are a bunch of shocking wires hanging from the ceiling.  It is dark and foggy as well.  My son and I were both able to get through without being shocked at all so it just seemed a little too easy to navigate.  I do think that there may have been some life packs hidden in there though and maybe looking for them would have been a good idea.  We didn’t see any life packs on the trail itself, although I did hear that some of the tutu clad ladies found two. 

My son had lost all of his flags about two-thirds of the way through.  At that point I had just one left and kept it hanging down behind me.  Now that he was infected and no longer concerned with his own flags, my son set to work at being an excellent meat shield.  While you can’t touch the zombies, you can block them and he was doing a tremendous job of keeping me safe.  I was about 150 yards from the last obstacle and it looked like a pretty clear run to the end.  My son had fallen behind a little when I heard him yell,  “WATCH OUT!” As I turned to see what was happening, a zombie came running at me at full speed and snatched my last flag.  Not only are they fast, but they are sneaky too!

In the end, all of us were infected.  We really didn’t see too many people in the early waves that weren’t.  The tutu ladies made it through uninfected along with a very few others.  Perhaps another strategy is to run later in the day when zombies aren’t so fresh.  We had a blast though and are already making plans to do it again in Orlando and maybe Baltimore as well.  Since RFTL, David and I did Mud Crusade and Color in Motion.  Both were good times, but Run For Your Lives will always be the one that infected me with this itch that must be scratched.