Zombie 5K is Like 'Tag For Adults'

This story was reported and written by Patch Local Editor John Majeski.

In most 5K races, you run for your best time. 

But in the 5K Zombie Run, participants will be running for their lives. That’s because they are being chased by the “flesh-hungry.” The playful trail run will take place Nov. 9 at Lake Park, off Dale Mabry Highway.

“It’s a great big game of tag for adults,” said race director Missy Dietsch.

Runners wear flag football-style belts and make their way through the trail, trying to get past makeup-wearing zombies who are trying to snatch their flags. If you make it to the finish line with at least one flag, you have “survived the apocalypse.” Runners are not timed like a typical 5K.

Dietsch said the idea came about because she likes to run but her spouse does not.

“He said the only reason I’m going to run is if I’m being chased,” she said. “I said, ‘Let’s work on that.’”

Dietsch’s first run — which she said mirrors other zombie 5Ks around the country —was held last December in Dade City. It attracted 1,100 people. Dietsch expects to double the number of participants this time, thanks in part to the moving of the run to Lake Park — a place she said is more centrally located and “gorgeous.”

Participants in the event, which is sponsored in part by PDQ, can either be runners or zombies. 

“Makeup artists will transform people,” she said of the latter. “As gory as you want to go, they can hook it up.”

Cost to be a runner is $90, $70 for a zombie. If you register early, however, you can use the code “save50” to receive half off.

Another Zombie 5K will be held January 2014 in Sarasota.

For more information, visithttp://www.the5kzombierun.com/ on the web.