Running Dead

This morning, I participated in the first ever RunDead race benefitting Special Olympics. The way it worked was this: It was a 5K run through Saratoga State Park, and it was a fairly tough trail run; up and down hills, through woods, alongside streams, over slippery rocks, up stairs and, though some muddy bits (my favorite). Each runner was given a little belt with three Velcro-detachable “flags.” As you ran the course, people dressed as zombies (and some folks were very creative in their costuming) leapt out and you and attempted to tear off the flags. If you lost all three flags, you were “dead.” I was doing well, but lost two flags in rapid succession the second mile, and then a short time later when my guard was down a five-year-old “zombie” snuck up behind me and got the third. They’re small, but they’ll crawl you. It was a lot of fun, although I noticed a few people taking it a bit too seriously, and some people were cheating by holding the flags in their hands, etc. (how bad does your self-esteem have to be to cheat in a zombie run?). I did it in a lethargic 31:30, but I wasn’t going for time or speed, and stopped every now and then to take pictures or not fall into a stream.