5K Zombie Run

My brother has inspired me to run a 5K. He wanted to run one Thanksgiving of 2011 and we were gonna run it together. Things happened and he wasn't able to come into town. I didn't want to run it by myself because I had never run one before. 

I almost ran one last May, but I chickened out because I didn't want to run it by myself. It was a 5K to benefit Rescue the Animals. The human participants could have their canine companions run with them. I started training with my 11 year old Siberian Husky. It got to where she would start limping a little around 1.5 miles. But I pushed her to run the whole 3 miles with me. I noticed she would act stiff when getting off the couch. I figured it was because she was old and had been laying down for awhile. Then one day, she started limping around the house. All of a sudden it dawned on me that she may have arthritis! I asked my friend Google about it. Google seemed to agree with me. Google said that exercise is good for dogs with arthritis, but not excessive exercise. I figured 3 miles was considered excessive. I backed Tymbre, my Siberian Husky, down to 2 miles. She seemed to do better at that distance, but it was still rough on her. 

I watched her as we ran and noticed she did really good for about a mile. She started limping between 1 mile and 1.5 miles. I bought her some pills for dogs at Petsmart that were made to ease her pain. They have really helped her. But I used her arthritis as an excuse to not run the Rescue the Animals 5K. I didn't want to run it by myself and since she couldn't really run a 5K without being in pain, I felt it was best not to make her. Tymbre LOVES to go for a run! I just have to be the one to tell her that we can only go 1 mile. As a responsible pet owner, it is up to me to not allow her to do something that will cause her to be in pain.

Then I found out about a 5K Zombie Run. I was pumped! I was more excited to run this one than I was about the Rescue the Animals 5K! I found some friends to form a team and run with me. I finally ran my first 5K at the beginning of December!

On the front left hand side of the shirt was this logo. It was in the place where you would have a pocket on your shirt.

The back of the shirt had this nifty design. I love the "blood".

 I posed before the race.

 The race had just begun...I am waving at Jeremy as he takes my picture.

 At the beginning of the race, the runners were close together. 

Each runner had 3 flags to start out with. The goal was to run out of town and get the antiserum. Then turn around and take it back to town with at least one of your flags. The zombies were in the street trying to get our flags. 

I feel like I am at least average runner. But let me tell you, it sure was a challenge to get past some of the zombies! I had to kick it up an notch and run faster as I got close to a zombie. Some were harder to get past than others.

You can see one of the zombies wearing scrubs in the grass trying to get the runner's flags as they run past. There's my friend Dana's husband to the right in this picture. He was one of our team members.

The zombie in the green air force suit was sitting down waiting for some more runners to come by. He was by far the best zombie!

You can see him in action here...

Jeremy was standing towards the end of the race. When he saw me coming, he started recording...

At the very end of the video, you can see me start to speed up and run toward the left...I was trying to avoid a zombie!

I'm sure you heard Jeremy warn me that there were two more zombies at the end. I thought I was home free after avoiding that last one in the video, until Jeremy told me there were two more! I heard him tell me that and thought, "oh, crap!" I had made it all the way to the halfway turn around spot with all my flags! It was on the way back that I lost my first flag to a zombie. 

This is one of the two zombies that were at the finish. It wasn't just a simple run across the finish line. In order to get to the finish, you had to avoid TWO zombies and crawl through a "detox" tunnel. 

I was able to get past the last two zombies and make it through the "detox" tunnel with two of my three flags left! 

For making it back to town with at least one flag, which means I did not get infected, I got this prize.

After the run we ate lunch. The zombies also were eating lunch. I just had to get my picture taken with this one! He was awesome!

I had so much fun doing the Zombie 5K! It was a challenge to get past some of the zombies. You had to think quick as you approached them so you could run past and avoid them taking one of your flags. I actually had to run faster when I was trying to get past most of the zombies. I would do it again!