Photo By Cpl. Dominique Osthoff | The Single Marine Program held its second annual Zombie Run October 21 at Marine Corps...... read more read more
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It was an eerie evening as 133 participants gathered to run in the Single Marine Program’s 5K Zombie Run on Marine Corps Air Station New River, Saturday.
The trail and woods featured almost 200 zombies and famous horror characters.
Runners were given four life lines which were represented by caution tape attached to their clothing. The goal was to make it out of the trail with the lifelines still attached. In doing so, runners had to dodge several zombies. Survivors were entered in to win prizes.
A grouping system was implemented allowing about 10 runners at a time to start the course. This allowed participants to get a good feel for the scenes and focus on making it through the course. Runners could increase their chances of survival and gain additional lives by completing exercise stations.
While letting out bellowing screams, runners did just about everything to try and keep their lifelines attached; from running well out of the way down steep hills, to grabbing nearby branches to fight off the dead-but-very-much-alive attackers.
Throughout the trail, there were several spooky movie scenes from “IT,” “Saw,” “Nightmare on Elms Street,” “Halloween,” “Psychos,” “The Grudge” and more.
The trail was hosted by a special zombie Spiderman that was played by the air station’s commanding officer.
“Everyone seemed to have a great time,” said Col. Russell Burton, the MCAS New River commanding officer. “My son ran it once; he was scared and ran around me – then he ran it again.”
James Konior is a retired Marine who brought his family out and even convinced his neighbors to participate.
“The run seemed fun,” said Konior. “It’s a good way to support the Single Marine Program.”
Gabriella Gonzales is not only a member of the SMP but also volunteered her time hiding in the woods with a face full of stage makeup in order to help scare runners.
“It is all about being in the program,” said Gonzales. “It is a fun time and well worth everyone’s efforts.”
Vanessa Thurber and her husband Justin ran the 5K together. Vanessa was able to keep all her lifelines unlike her husband, who lost them all.
“I was not expecting it to be that scary,” said Thurber. “But it was fun and I survived.”
After runners completed the trail, they were invited back to a cookout at the New River Fitness Center in order to recuperate from their zombie encounters.
“We had an awesome turnout tonight. This is our second year doing the run and we wouldn’t be able to do it without all of the volunteers,” said Susan Goodrich, SMP director. As she explained the role of volunteers who participated as zombies, cooked the food and served as medics at exercise stations. “The best thing is that all the proceeds from the run go directly back into the Single Marine Program.”
The SMP focuses on enhancing the quality of life of all single or unaccompanied service members. The program encourages community involvement and recreational activities. With this race alone, the program was able to raise funds and awareness to continue to provide support to Marines.
The Single Marine Program plans to continue the Zombie Run for years to come.
“We are already looking forward to next year’s,” said Goodrich. “We have already started talking about plans and how we’re going to improve it and offer bigger and better scenes.”
For more information on SMP events, visit www.mccslejeune-newriver.com/smp.
Story written by Michelle Hannah and Lance Cpl. Dominique Fisk.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.12.2017 20:28 |
| Story ID: | 253480 |
| Location: | NC, US |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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