Danger! Zombies! Run! 5K

On Oct 28, 2012 Bad to The Bone Endurance Sports hosted the "Danger! Zombies Run 5K", a race that started and ended in Charlottesville's historic downtown mall and wound through a few of the older neighborhoods in the city. The event was named after a philosophical zombie comedy that was produced by Amoeba Films and the Film Makers Republik. 

(Here is the teaser blurb that I found about this film:)

Zombies attack a crew filming a zombie movie. While the zombie actors chew the scenery, real zombies chew the actors. But what’s really gnawing at them can’t be outrun. Better tie your shoelaces. DANGER. ZOMBIES. RUN. asks why we run from zombies, and why they chase us. No, you can't always run away from your problems. Eventually, they will catch up with you. Written by the ensemble cast, and featuring the music of Corsair, Astronomers, Thrum and Christian Breeden of American Dumpster, DANGER. ZOMBIES. RUN. was conceived and directed by the creator of the the cultish Buddhist horror MANTRA and EAT ME: A ZOMBIE MUSICAL.

This particular 5K gave me another chance to serve as a volunteer within the running community, not to mention draft 6 of my colleagues.  We helped keep runners on course while encouraging them along the way.  I hope that they realize how important that they were to the event.

The 5K was used as a fund raiser for the Film Makers Republik.

What made this (fun run) particularly interesting was the fact that it wasn't really centered around being a race.  In fact it was more of a costume party/game of tag.  Here's a description of the race:

How does it work? Escape the undead as a human, or chase humans as a zombie and turn them into zombies by taking their life! As a human, have a 90 seconds head start, and you attempt not to be killed by any zombie. Your life will hang as a ribbon on your back. If you are killed, volunteers along the course will stand by with buckets of fake blood ready to zombiefy you. As a zombie, you'll attempt to chase and kill as many humans as possible by stealing the ribbon (life) on their backs. The zombie with the most kills will win.

Like any truly family friendly zombie event there were multiple ways to win.  Awards were given to the

fastest human male, fastest human female, zombie with most kills male, zombie with most kills female, best zombie costume male, best zombie costume female, best zombie costume youth boy, and best costume youth girl.

Now that you have a good grasp of what it was all about, I will tell you briefly about my experience at the Danger! Zombies! Run! 5K.  I met with the six colleagues of mine curious enough about the spectacle of masses fleeing from a horde of zombies that they were willing to show up at the early and chilly hour of 7am.  Once everyone had a grip on what there role in the event would be, we headed to a local coffee house and shared a social hour as we waited for the moments before the start.

I was located at the entrance to river view park, directing people to bypass the park as they entered into the second half of the run.  I saw momma zombies, papa zombies, little kid zombies, stroller bound baby zombies, coed zombies, and of course some normal looking humans fleeing the horde.  I was lucky enough to have a cowbell to ring emphatically as I encouraged the runners or even shouted warnings prior to a zombie ripping their life (ribbon) from them.  Once the last zombie crossed, I anxiously returned to the start/finishline to take pictures of and with some of the more impressive undead.

Bad to the Bone Endurance Sports hit a home run with this one.  My crew of volunteers and I had a great time.  I would imagine that anyone that participated in this event will have fond memories of a oddly clean and wholesome day filled with zombies and people running for their lives.

I would like to thank my colleagues for coming out; they were real contributers to this event, more than they could know.

I would also like to thank and give serious props to Bad to The Bone Endurance Sports for throwing an amazingly unique family oriented event that included ZOMBIES!!!!!