Did you ever want to experience the Zombie apocalypse? I had an opportunity to experience it first hand at The Zombie Mud Run at Shocktoberfest, in Sinking Spring on Saturday Oct. 14.
The Zombie Mud Run is an annual event that brings people from all over different places to compete in a 5K course complete with mud,obstacles, and actors made up as zombies. For those who are not familiar with this event it is very unique to say the least. Runners are given football style flags that represent your vital organs, things like your heart, kidneys, and other things you need to live. The challenge is to run through the mud, get over the obstacles, and avoid the actors made up like zombies who will try everything and anything to remove your flags or “vital organs.”
I was motivated to go to The Zombie Mud Run because I am a fan of the horror genre and love zombies. I started going when I was 7 years old, and at that time I got made up as a zombie and served as an Honorary Zombie, and my goal was to scare the runners and capture their flags. This time around I would be running the course.
I approached the start line and Pat Konopelski, the owner of Shocktoberfest, tells the people that are brave enough to compete in the event to start to warm up by doing jumping jacks and stretching. There were all different kinds of people here, some with muscles some without, kids and adults. I am one of the younger runners at 11 years old, one of the oldest runners is a lady who is 61 years old.
Pat counts down from 10 to 0. When he said 0, everyone started to jog. My partner and I were trying to save our energy to complete the 5K. The first obstacle was a hay wagon that I had to climb over. Luckily there were no zombies in that area at the time. Next up was the Prison of the Dead maze. I get lost, and had to find my way while zombies chase me. After I make it out of the maze, I had to drag my partner because he was getting too tired to jog through the rest of the course.
It’s hard to run in slippery wet soggy mud. My partner and I decided to run in different directions so the chances of the zombies grabbing us were not as great. My partner loses one of his vital organs or flags but a sympathetic zombie offers him a spare flag so that he can have a transplant. As we narrow one of the hairpin-like turns on the course, I looked down and discover that one of my flags is gone. I now only have two flags left and if I lose both of them I will become one of the infected. I need to have at least one flag to survive the zombie apocalypse and get my “I survived” medal.
I encountered a massive water slide that I had to go down that emptied into a pool of soapy muddy water that went up to my neck. At the time I was wearing sweatpants that got soaked in muddy water and they became very heavy and my shoes were filled up with water, making it hard to run from the zombies.
My partner and I are both cold, wet, and chilled to the bone. The cold weather doesn’t seem to bother the zombies though, and they can still run quite well. Just as I think that I’ve outrun one of them, I realize he’s still behind me. My partner screams, and I become scared. I look down and realize both my partner and I are down to one flag or vital organ each. If we lose these last flags, we will be considered “infected”. I head towards the home stretch, the last part of the course. Making the final descent both my partner and I lose our last flags.
Even though we no longer have our vital organs, and are now infected, I decide to finish the course but there is one last obstacle waiting for me, a muddy watery area with tight ropes. Runners have to crawl underneath them to reach the finish line. People waiting at the finish line encourage me and cheer to “keep going.” When I reach the end, I receive a medallion that reads “infected” since I lost all of my flags.
I had a great time and learned to work together with my partner and other runners. I even talked to some of the zombies before the run, and they were very friendly. I love the horror genre, and the Zombie Mud Run is like a movie on the Chiller Network coming to life. I might be back again next year and I promise you this, I will hold on to all three of my football flags!
I would like to say, “Thank you,” to Pat Konopelski, Heather Mateuszow, and the staff of Shocktoberfest.
For more information on Shocktoberfest or the Zombie Mud Run, go to www.thezombiemudrun.com and www.shocktoberfest.com.
Rodeo Marie Hanson, 11, Fleetwood, is Kid Movie Reviewer for Berks-Mont Newspapers. She has been rubbing elbows with celebrities on the red carpet since she was age 4.
