Run For Your Lives

This past Saturday, I ran the Run For Your Lives 5K outside of Baltimore, MD.  This was the first time I ran a 5K and, in my opinion, it was the perfect gateway race.

Most runners—in my mostly incorrect view of the world—are born runners.  They are the kids that get into cross country and track running in high school.  I was not one of those kids.  I never joined either and never really, truly ran until the Army forced me.  I did grow to love it and found a happy Zen spot, which I assume most other runners discover as well.  The whole world just falls away and you are left with your breathing, the beating of your heart, and the peace of just being.

For those that have not heard of it, the RFYL is not just a plain 5K.  It is an ‘adventure’ race.  An adventure race involves running but adds obstacles to the course to make it more difficult, which is to say, awesome.  This was the first event and, as far as I know, is unique because of the theme and that to survive you not only have to complete the obstacles but you have to avoid the zombies.  As a runner, you’re equipped with the standard racing bib and the not so standard flagged belt ala flag football.  You are provided with three flags.  If all three flags are taken, you still complete the race but are considered a zombie and are disqualified from placing.

What sort of obstacles were there?  There was a massive uphill climb, for one.  We had to dive through corrugated pipes which simulated a storm or sanitary sewer system.  There was also the—quite unexpected—obstacle which involved swimming across a pond.  Yeah, they gave us the option of running the long way around the pond but, really, who was going to do that?  Okay, so maybe it was only 55 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the water felt ice cold.  Also, yes, a few people did choose to run around the pond instead.  Not me, though.  I was there for the thrill and the challenge.  Besides, everyone knows zombies can’t swim.  Right?  Right?

There were a number of climbs (walls and rope netting) and a pool of blood we had to wade through.  There was a dreaded gauntlet which involved running through dangling intestines.  There were just so many fun obstacles.

The major complication was not the man-made or natural obstacles.  The zombies were the actual challenge.  They served not just as a physical challenge; they were also a psychological challenge.  I don’t care if zombies are not real.  When you run uphill through a forest, dodging zombies left and right only to reach a dead end on the trail it is terrifying.  Needing to turn around and do it again was both frightening and exhilarating.  In the moment, it becomes a very real test of survival.

At the beginning of the race, I saw the zombies as people in makeup with a specific job to do.  By the middle of the race, I stopped looking at the zombies as people.  I no longer saw faces.  I saw blood, tattered clothing, and shambling death.  My mind kicked into fight or flight mode and I found myself calculating ways around them.  I gauged their speed and response to the folks in front of me when there were other runners ahead.  I quickly planned strategies and implemented them with finality.

Did I survive?

No Life Lost

You’re damn right I survived.  I was not the fastest runner (never have been and I know this time I did not even come close).    I did survive it wholly intact, however.  When I crossed the finish line—by sliding through a hole in a chain link fence—I felt a real sense of accomplishment.  I felt great.

I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.  Sadly, I know the run is not scheduled to return to the Baltimore area before the end of 2012.  That just means I will need to get off my butt and travel to run it again.  In the meantime, I may pick up a few other races to keep myself prepared.

Were there any negatives?  Of course.  This was the first RFYL ever and, as such, there were a few issues.  Many have already complained about the parking issues or that the ‘free’ swag for running did not have the logo on it.  These are all issues that I know they’re working on remedying already.  These issues were really minor and did not detract from the run.  I felt they did the best they could to accommodate the large turnout.

On a scale of one to five half-eaten body parts, with one being the worst and five the best, the Run For Your Lives 5K receives a very juicy five.

Were you there on Saturday? What was your experience?

The first assignment involved posting an introduction for the course. Here's mine:

Hi! My name is Ron and I like long walks on the beach, cuddling, and sarcasm.

I am nearing the end of my two year program. Clocking in at nearly a decade, it has easily been the longest two years of my life. Life is what happens while you're making plans--or so I've heard. I am a Business Management major. Currently, I'm also the Chief Technology Manager for a civil engineering firm in Northern Virginia. As a result, my time is stretched a bit thin.

If student success were a food, it would be a house salad because everyone knows that--deep down--it is what they really want or need but some of us skip it to have room for the cheesecake instead.

I blame them because this past weekend was a family reunion.  The last family reunion was eighteen years ago.  Now I'm suffering flashes of memory.  Some of them are beautiful.  Many of the flashes are sad.  A few are happy. 

They're all quite random. 

The morbid part of my psyche wonders if I'm not lying down some where, bleeding out and suffering the cliched life flashes.  The rest of my psyche is just sitting back and trying to drink in the past, drink in the beauty.

For the moment, I'm just relaxing in a recliner, leaning back, feet kicked up with an old school batman t-shirt on.  It is good to be on vacation.