"Ahhh it's a triathlon Zombie!"

November 9 marked the apocalypse in Tampa Bay. My father-in-law and I signed up to be zombies in our local zombie run. Although I've done warrior dash and other mud runs, this was my first zombie run. 

We were treated to makeup, complete with blood splatters. 

This is what happens when I'm deprived of my morning coffee. 

As a zombie, it isn't really a run at all. It's more a sub culture. Between the zombie brides, the farmer zombies and the character-themed zombies, it was hard to pick a favorite. 

We were instructed to wait in a clearing near the end of the race and steal flags from the runners' belts. Or, we could give flags we had stolen to runners who lost all 3 flags so they could enjoy the chase all the way until the end.

My father-in-law and I are both pretty active, so we grew pretty impatient while passing the time between waves of runners. By the time the runners got to us, most of them had lost all 3 of their flags or were too tired to dodge us. We ended up running the course backwards to catch up to more runners and then slowing down and acting "zombie-ish" as they approached, which earned us the nickname "triathlon zombies." Father-in-law got lots of laughs (and shrieks) when he attached flags he swiped from runners to his belt loops and groaned "I'm one of youuu...."

Next time, I will definitely:

Run first to get into the zombie mood

Bring more friends and family to enjoy the music and post-race festivities

Go to the zombie pub-crawl later that night (runners and zombies get one free beer)!