Will Run for Brains

I think zombies are awesome. Laura and I have been into zombies for a long time. We’ve seen (and own) tons of zombie movies and we both watch The Walking Dead on a regular basis. When I was looking for races in the Seattle-area and caught wind of a Zombie Run, I immediately went about checking my calendar and getting registered. While filling out the registration I discovered I had two options for signing up, I could register as a Human OR a Zombie. Movie-quality zombie make up by professional make up artists? SOLD. My husband, Riku, even took off work so he could come along and take pictures.




For this race, I was probably the most excited I’ve been for running. I was really looking forward to being made into a zombie and then running alongside humans on a 5K course. When the week of the race came, I started to suspect that it may not be as good as I expected. The start time and arrival time kept changing, almost on a daily basis. There was supposed to be a day time and a night time race on the same day, but the night time one got cancelled, so they changed the time of the day one to be later. This wouldn’t normally be a problem, except with church the next day and a long drive to the race location, I was worried about having recovery time.

We left for McCleary, Washington, where the race was taking place, in the late morning. Before leaving, Riku took scissors and slashed through an old long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of worn out khaki pants. I then put these ripped up clothes on over top a tank and running capris. Traffic was unpredictably horrible and the one hour trip took twice that long. I was worried we wouldn’t make it in time for the zombie make up start, but thankfully we arrived right at 11AM and I quickly got checked in.




Making my way to the zombie make up tent, I noticed all the awesome costumes people had for being zombies. There were folks in CDC suits, scrubs, pajamas, slashed up clothes, and even a group of folks dressed like the band DEVO! I waited in line for my turn in the zombie make up tent and then, station by station, was slowly transformed...

We had been doing a Flat Stanley type activity with church all summer, so I made sure to take pictures with Flat Jesus (Riku reminded me that Jesus is the most famous zombie, haha) as well as get lots of photos of the transformation as well as the finishing project. All the zombies gathered in one place for instructions, as well as a splash of fake blood (which dripped behind my contact lens and made me look EXTRA creepy) before being sent out to the course.

As I listened I became confused about the set up. This was a 5K run...I was supposed to be running alongside humans on a 5K run through a park. Right? Once again, this Zombie Run was not what I had expected. The Zombie Run, you see, was indeed the length of a 5K, but it was an obstacle course, on a wooded trail as well as on a dirt track for motocross. And while the humans were running through the course and completing obstacles, the zombies would be assigned different sections of the course and would be collecting flags off the humans.

So, after getting doused with fake blood and practicing my zombie acting skills, I headed to my assigned location with Riku following along to take action photos. My assigned location? Right after a fog-filled tunnel and in the middle of a dirt track path with no shade and no access to water. The temperature was close to 90 degrees without a cloud in the sky.

After a short time, folks started coming through the tunnel and trying to run past the other zombies like me. Chasing human runners and trying to grab their flags was a huge challenge! I was running constantly and trying to hide and jump out. I grabbed a couple of flags, helped a girl who was having an asthma attack because of all the fake fog and dust, and posed for photos with humans dressed like the guy from Shaun of the Dead. I also ripped my pants so much they wouldn’t stay on and ended up in just my running capris, nearly got my fingers broken when my hand got caught in someone’s homemade running skirt, and got called every four-letter word in the book by folks who were none-to-pleased about the course and the zombies not being what they expected.

Chasing humans

Four hours after I had walked up to my station, zombies from further up the course walked past saying the race was over and we could head to the finish line for the after party. I had spent FOUR HOURS chasing humans in the hot sun with no water. I was covered in dust, completely exhausted, joints sore from grabbing flags and getting pushed around, and thirstier than I’ve ever been in life.

I snagged several flags, 2 homemade running skirts, and a pair of pants!

Riku and I walked to the finish area where folks seemed kinda confused about handing out the finisher’s medals. As a zombie, I got one that said, “Infected” on it - pretty cool looking actually. They had a tank set up with water, overpriced food for purchase, a beer garden, and lots of places for posing with photos in neat backgrounds.




I drank my free beer, took a couple pictures, turned in all the flags I had retrieved from humans, and headed to the car. We stopped at the Subway close to Joint Base Lewis-McChord for something to eat and I was surprised at the seeming lack of reaction to my crazy zombie clothes and make up. The people in the cars beside us on the freeway, however, really found me to be entertaining and I got a kick out of making zombie faces at them whenever possible.

When we got home it feel SO good to take a shower, but the zombie make up was a bear to get off my skin! I had to get Riku to help me, but it was so worth it because the make up was amazing and I really did feel like I had been on an episode of The Walking Dead.

All in all, we both had a great time, but I won’t participate again. I loved getting turned into a zombie and chasing people, but I wasn’t a fan of not getting to complete an entire 5K (although we figured out I basically ran non-stop for several hours and likely ran MUCH more than a 5K while chasing humans).  I also wasn’t a fan of being out on a dusty pile of dirt for 4 hours in the hot sun without water while dressed in a zombie outfit.

I guess what I learned is to find out more about a race before signing up...or at least make sure I have a sign that says, “Will Run for Brains,” next time!