It should be mentioned that the whole zombie obsession is not isolated to appropriate holidays. Several months ago Sam was looking for a 5k to run (his first) and happened upon
Run For Your Lives-- a 5k obstacle course with zombies. He signed up and started training.
When the day came, we decided to make it a family event. We loaded up our car and started on what should have been a two hour drive. This was the inaugural race, so some of the parking and traffic logistics were sketchy. We got about three miles away from the race when we hit stopped traffic. There were so many people trying to get to the race on tiny rural roads and not a big enough parking lot, and it ended up taking us over two more hours to drive the last three miles to the race. Needless to say, Sam's wave time was long passed by the time we checked in and picked up his packet. He was supposed to start at 1:30 but didn't make it onto the course until after 4:30. They had to reorganize things and let runners start whenever they wanted to allow the maximum number of participants through, but they did have to close the course at dark, so there were tons of people who didn't get to run. Quite the fiasco.
Despite the absolute nightmare of driving, parking, shuttling, etc., we had a blast. Bria loved cheering on the other runners as we waited for Sam to cross the finish line, and the whole thing really solidified her love of zombies. (Though our mantra for the day was "it's funny, not scary" to stave off any freak-outs or future nightmares.) And we were so proud of Sam who made it through the entire race with
one remaining flag attached, deeming him a human survivor.
Bria enjoyed quite the spread of fried foods at the Apocalypse Party.
Coming around the bend, approaching the finish line.
Crossing the finish line.
Bria was not thrilled about any physical contact with a mud-covered Sam.
Describing the scene, post-race.
