RFYL Vail Lake: How Will You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

Amidst the undead area sprawling the 5k obstacle course placed just above Vail Lake is where the zombie run took place... "Run For Your Lives" is what is was and ran for my life is what I did. Lining up for our 1:30 wave, we were separated into 3 different corrals, Appetizers (fast), Entrees (medium) and Desserts (slow).

Darkness falls across the land The midnite hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood To terrorize yawls neighbourhood...

Each corral is released one after another, which keeps a steady stream of runners throughout the course.We started off as entrees quickly turned muddy runners hustling to dodge and evade the shuffling brain-eating zombies.

The race began up a fairly steep hill which made for a nice warm up until we reached the top and encountered our first batch of hungry walkers. Mixing in with the crowd I drifted past the undead with all flags remaining. It was dirty and dusty and the dust felt a bit like an obstacle in itself (the zombie sandstorm) because the dust being kicked up by all the runners made it a bit difficult to see and kinda grueling to breath through, but I hustled on with a smile on my face and what felt like sand in my teeth! My will to live was strong, but by the time I reached the shock shack (and oh did I get shocked) I had only one flag remaining and was completely zombified by the end of the maze.
 

{my first attempt at sprinting past the hungry undead}

 About the Race:

• Each runner is given a flag belt which represents health. 3 health flags included for you to protect throughout the course.
• The zombies are looking to steal your flags.
•  If you have no flags left at the end, you are now a part of the undead.
• Health bonuses are hidden throughout the course. (I looked for these but was unsuccessful in finding any) If a runner finds one and carries it to the finish, it will save your life.
• The course is flooded with 2 types of zombies: stumblers (those who can only walk and not chase a runner) and chasers (those who can all out sprint and chase after a runner
• There were 12 man-made obstacles runners must compete in order to be eligible for prizes.

The Obstacles: (well, what I remember of them)

The Mud Hill (times 2):
At the end of what seemed about the first dusty mile, we encountered the Mud Hill which was two muddy steep mounds of dirt each ending with a mucky mud pit you were about waist deep in.  

{not sure what Im smiling at here pretty sure I had just lost my last flag}

Zombie Gauntlet:
A flat open surface covered with zombies as far as my eyes could see. And I was clearly covered in mud which made it tough to slosh through this obstacle while protecting my flags.

Shock Shack:
A smoked filled house (like a burning building) which you entered by crawling through the window stocked with dangling electrical wires you were forced to crawl under which i quickly learned after being shocked in the head (which literally felt like I was kicked in the face... ouch!)

Muddy Logs:
Three logs placed over a muddy puddle which I crawled over and watched some silly "hard core" athletes unnecessarily crawl underneath.

Zombie Infested Maze:
Self explanatory... a maze infested with zombies which I got lost in twice.

And other Zombie Gauntlet

Low Vaulting Wall:
There were a couple of these about 3-4 ft or so... up and over!

Barbed Wire:
Two large pits of mud covered in barbed wire you made your way through on ducking low and being careful on your hands and knees.

Yet another Small Zombie Gauntlet

Mud Slide:
Up a ladder and down a slippery slide into a pit of mud. This was undoubtedly the most entertaining obstacle for spectators as runners seemed to find all sorts of ways to slip down this slide into the pool of mud.

Arch Crawl:
About 100 yrds of closely spaced arches everyone made their way through, head to butt. Pretty sure we all looked insanely ridiculous. Some people crawled while other were on all fours. I however scooted along using my hands to kinda squat hop between each arch.

Electrified Chain Link Fence:
Approximately 6 feet long and about 15″ off the ground this was the last obstacle which required you to  get flat and low crawl to avoid electrocution.  Since I had already experienced a bit of electricity in the shock shack I avoided making contact with this fence like my life depended on it.  

 

 

The organization of this event surpassed my expectations (especially considering they were pumping out 500 runners every 30 minuets) Signage was clear and the registration process took merely minutes. Parking was effortless and very efficient (and love that we parked for free Subaru being a sponsor and Tom having a Subaru yay!) Even bag check and pick up was super fast. Unfortunately I reached the apocalypse party to celebrate my zombie transformation (in other words, I lost all my flags and therefore was now a part of the undead) but celebrated and enjoyed a refreshingly cold blue moon beer.  From uphill climbs, swimming through mud, crawling under fences and even going through an electric shock house (all while bobbing and weaving through groups of undead), we faced several obstacles that challenged our fearlessness. This was an awesome day to remember, all in all it made for a fun race for our lives I highly recomend it (see video below) and I would deffieitely consider running again!