I had tried to run this race last year but there was a steady downpour all morning, so I skipped it. But this year I managed to pull myself out of bed at 8:00 and ride over to the park a few minutes away where the race was being held. Sponsored by the Garfield Elementary PTA, the idea of the race is that you run a traditional neighborhood 5k... while being chased by zombies! If only it had been as thrilling as it sounds.
The gun went off at 8:30. Two younger guys took off like rockets, and I found myself in 3rd place. I was hoping one or both would burn out later on, but it seemed like they both knew what they were doing. About a half mile into the race, I saw two zombies lurking behind a tree. I guess they didn't feel like chasing me, because neither one made a move as I ran past. All of the zombies on the course looked like middle or high school girls who only wanted to chase their friends. All I got was a few half-hearted zombie noises from a few of them. At the end of the race was a man in a grim reaper kind of outfit who chased runners to the finish.
I need to do one of those zombie 5k's in which runners wear football flag belts and the zombies try to take the flags. If a runner loses both flags, he becomes a zombie as well.
At any rate, I felt pretty lousy towards the end of the race, which shows just how little I've been training this fall. I finished in 19:53, so it's nice to see that when push comes to shove I can still knock out a sub 20 minute 5k, but I definitely don't want to continue this trend of losing speed. My dad once mentioned the worst part of running is watching your glory days and PR's fade into the past, and I'm definitely not ready for that yet.
I never did catch up to those two guys from the start, and I finished in 3rd place overall. The race only awarded prizes to 1st overall male and female, but I also won my age group, so I got a medal and a $25 gift certificate to the Haddonfield Running Company (redeemable with $50 purchase).
The gun went off at 8:30. Two younger guys took off like rockets, and I found myself in 3rd place. I was hoping one or both would burn out later on, but it seemed like they both knew what they were doing. About a half mile into the race, I saw two zombies lurking behind a tree. I guess they didn't feel like chasing me, because neither one made a move as I ran past. All of the zombies on the course looked like middle or high school girls who only wanted to chase their friends. All I got was a few half-hearted zombie noises from a few of them. At the end of the race was a man in a grim reaper kind of outfit who chased runners to the finish.
I need to do one of those zombie 5k's in which runners wear football flag belts and the zombies try to take the flags. If a runner loses both flags, he becomes a zombie as well.
At any rate, I felt pretty lousy towards the end of the race, which shows just how little I've been training this fall. I finished in 19:53, so it's nice to see that when push comes to shove I can still knock out a sub 20 minute 5k, but I definitely don't want to continue this trend of losing speed. My dad once mentioned the worst part of running is watching your glory days and PR's fade into the past, and I'm definitely not ready for that yet.
I never did catch up to those two guys from the start, and I finished in 3rd place overall. The race only awarded prizes to 1st overall male and female, but I also won my age group, so I got a medal and a $25 gift certificate to the Haddonfield Running Company (redeemable with $50 purchase).
No comments:
Post a Comment