SAN BERNARDINO – They are out for blood, flesh and brains. They want your life so you better run for it. You are given only three chances and when they are gone the infection begins to take place. You become one of them, the undead.
This year’s event was held in San Bernardino on September 28, at Glen Helen Park. This popular event is not only held in California but all over the United States. Participants had the option to be a runner, zombie or just a spectator.
Runners were given three flags that represented their three lives. Participants that signed up to be zombies were given a zombie makeover. Volunteer zombies were then given a wardrobe complete with ripped up clothes and fake blood.
The run started out with the runners being funneled into concrete tunnels where they were met by a horde of zombies that then chased them at full speed until they passed into a safe zone.
The dust-covered path was rocky and at times very steep. Many of the runners lost their footing during the run and a few were injured.
“It was hard to stop myself while running down that hill and I just lost my balance,” said Justin Theam, 18.
Prior to the race participants signed a waiver as they checked in.
One of the first obstacles of the course was a section that had been turned into a washy mud pit with barbed wire stationed over it. Runners had no choice but to crawl through the cold muddy water and try not to catch their clothes on the barbs.
Mud drenched participants were again met by a swarm of flag thirsty zombies.
“My clothes felt so heavy back there that I couldn’t outrun them,” Mark Blanco, 25, said after he lost one of his flags to a zombie.
In one area there was a shock shack set up. Runners had to crawl along the dirt floor of the shack with hanging electrified strings hanging overhead.
A fog machine produced a thick layer of fog that made it harder for runners to avoid the electrified strings. All that could be heard from the outside of the shack were the sounds of people in pain and joy at the same time.
Waiting not so patiently on the outside of the shack were the relentless zombies.
“I want your brains,” a female zombie exclaimed.
“I prefer liver,” a runner replied as he narrowly escaped her grasp.
Participants were then funneled over a creepy bridge onto a desolate dirt path that was littered with more zombies. If they survived that, runners were rewarded with yet another obstacle.
A shoulder deep pool of water dyed pink in what resembled a storage container had participants squirming. Runners had to walk or swim through the ice-cold water and then climb down bails of hay back to the course.
The finish line was an electrified fence that had to be crawled under via one’s stomach in order to claim their medal.
Every participant who crossed the finish line actually got a medal whether they survived or whether they had turned. Runners where also rewarded with a Run for Your Lives shirt, a Cracker Jack pizza flavored snack and a nice cold Newcastle if they were over 21.
Tickets are already on sale for the 2014 Run for Your Lives Zombie Run. If you purchase them early, they come at a discounted price of $49 for the first 300 tickets sold. Visit runforyourlives.com for more info.
