Run for you lives! It is a 5k zombie run which is held in different states throughout the year. My friend Nat is a zombie lover. Mmmm…brains. So, to celebrate the break from nursing school and to run this zombie-filled obstacle race, we made a trip to Austin, TX.
The race was in Cedar Creek, TX and Cedar Creek being literally in the middle of nowhere, we stayed in Bastrop and went out to the famous 6th street, Austin. “Keep Austin weird” slogan is perfect for 6th street. Men in red dresses, a woman who rubbed her ‘girls’ on Nat’s face, a guy at a bar who gave me a drawing of two naked girls with a life-size bong…it’s all a little blurry. Nat swears that I insisted on getting a tattoo.
The next morning, we arrived tired and achy at the ranch where RFYL 5k was being held. This was the day when my long-time wish of running in a Texas field was coming true. We ran, dodged zombies, climbed cliffs, crawled through mud, landed head first in muddy water, got some scratches, bruised knees…it was a very fun! I had never gotten muddy or ran a 5K before. The point of the race was to save your “lives” (which were long red flags) from zombies. Nat “died” before me and acted as a human shield to protect my “life” for a while. Eventually I “died” too, and we just walked the rest of the course holding hands and watching other runners run for their “lives”. I enjoyed the last part when we both “died” and didn’t have to be scared of zombies and could just overcome the obstacles.
While we were having an exciting weekend, we also heard about the elementary school shooting in Connecticut. When we were running for our “lives”, those children were running for their lives. I ended up with small scratches, sore legs and muddy ears, but those children’s destiny was far worse. There will be candles, stuffed animals, talks about gun-control, grieving families but those 20 children and their 6 teachers are gone. I keep having this mental image of them walking in heaven, holding hands, jumping and skipping. Running for your “lives” is fun, but nobody should have to run for their lives.
With our medals after the race.
pinkbird711 