Zombie run

Allie organized a team to walk in honor of Harvey at a Tears Foundation Walk in NJ one weekend in May. it just happened to overlap with Amy's visit, so we decided to join the team. We got up eeeeearly Saturday morning to hit the road. Mr drivers permit drove the whole way! A little scary having your child drive on the freeway for the first time! Thanfully the roads were clear and he did great. (:

Since we were already in NJ, Amy had found a zombie 5k run for us to do together. We thought it would be fun and silly, and that Chris might want to run with us, but no. He refused. Lexi never even considered. And Alli and her friend were out as well. Amy and I are the only adventure lovers, I guess. (;

Lex and Chris kept baby max while we ran. Pretty fly, there!

We got there early so we had pleeeenty of time to walk around and take pictures. 

The whole operation was pretty rinky dink. Like farmer john and farmer Ted got together and decided to host a 5k. 

The kids got pictures of us on our first walking stint. 

Here we are approaching out first mean zombie. We'd had time to watch him as we waited for our turn to go, and he was pretty vicious. The point of a zombie run is that you get three "flags" (like flag football) and the zombies infect you by taking all of your flags. 

Anyhow, our strategy was going to be a red rover like maneuver to confuse the zombie into letting us pass peacefully and with all flags intact. Needless to say, it didnt work. We didn't ever talk about which way we'd run if he came at us, which, of course he did. our united front quickly came undone and he chased Amy. I thought I was home free. I put the wheels on and really thought I'd sacrificed my sister, which I was totally ok with, but alas, after taking one of her flags, he turned to me. And just like that, we were both down to 2. 

It was right after that harrowing experience that we met our friends, a very nice couple from ny that waited for us to go through a trailer with them. Safety in numbers when you are zombie hunting. 

We stayed with our buddies for the rest of the run. They were super nice and funny. We'd caw to eachother (like vicious zombie hunting birds, you see) if either couple came upon a zombie. It was good that we made friends with them too, because things took a turn for the worst right around mile 2. 

We were running at the end of our heat, because, as it turns out, two chubby, middle aged mamas are not the fastest. Also at the end of our heat was a group of about 10 of the most stereotypical new jersians you'd ever want to meet. There were a couple adults and also several younger teens in the NJ group. Anyhow, to make a long story short, NJ took a wrong turn. Like I said, this was a pretty low budget affair and it wasn't very well marked or well manned. Not really thinking we shouldn't, we, and our NY friends, just followed NJ. until we found ourselves walking through actual abandoned buildings and along power lines headed to the New Jersey turnpike. It was just so ridiculous! We got lost during a 5k! How does that even happen?

And we weren't just lost for a few minutes. It was probably the better part of an hour. And no one from the event was any the wiser. So there we were, a large group of mostly adults lost during a silly zombie 5k with no cell phones and no clue where we were. It was such a bizarre experience. We finally made our way back to the race and the 4 of us made a pact to ditch NJ as soon as we could. 

After our detour we came upon zombies a lot more frequently. I lost my second flag to a very over zealous girl zombie that didn't really like rules. We came upon her before we'd ditched NJ, so we ran through her and her friend in a large bunch, and I'd passed where she was supposed to run (the zombies stayed within about a 20-25 foot radius).  But then she came up and grabbed my back flag, totally past where she was supposed to be. Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater. Humph. 

I lost my last flag to the last zombie we met, another very over zealous man that ripped my running bib off with my flag. And just like that, we were both infected. And we were so close too! 

We finally made it to the end!

That detour made this the worlds longest 5k! Here we are with our NY friends. We made it!

So gross!!! Dirty, dirty, dirty!

Infected! Showing off our empty flag belts. 

Here was our crew waiting for us for forever.  They were seriously like "where are they?!" Oh, we had stories for them. 

That night we stayed near an Atlantic city style boardwalk. I can't remember the name, but they'd had a fire and been nearly destroyed by hurricane sandy. Tough times. 

We stayed at a pretty cheapy little hotel, but right across the street from the beach. And the right price, so you get what you get. (:

We walked around the boardwalk and bartered for dresses and games. Alli wanted a silly doll and funded Christian trying to earn it. 

Such highway robbery! I won't go into detail, but they make it impossible to win without spending at least $40-$50. Just $5-$10 at a time, they keep telling you how close you are. Chris did a really good job and totally should have earned the doll, several times over! C'est la vie!

Lexi took her book along, so I had to document the reading! She read The Fault in Our Stars and loved it. 

Quality time for these outnumbered boy cousins. 

That night we watched a movie on tv about a couple that had a stillborn child. Bonnie had told us about it, so we watched and texted with her and kept Harvey on our minds before the big memorial walk.