Year 2, Week 23 (Days 522 - 528)

This week I'm going to try something different while I recap another eventful weekend.

One of my sponsors, Laura P. from Xoelle bow ties, is due to welcome another member of their family sometime soon so she generously sent over a few bows to keep me motivated since it's likely I won't hear from her for a bit. One of Laura's best talents is re-purposing fabric from neck ties (or shirts or pants or whatever you want to give her) and constructing awesomely rad bow ties. Check the top bow on this post - it was actually converted from an old J.Crew tie that I no longer had use for as a neck tie. Cool, right?

This past weekend I got the chance to participate in a fun mud run in Medford, NJ, that consisted of zombies on a 5k obstacle course. The idea was pretty simple. Hold onto any of the three flags that you're given and be considered a "survivor." If the zombies get your flags, then you'll be labeled "infected." Either way you get a medal and the chance to run the course.

After having finished 8 various "races" that were arguably more rigorous than this course, I was left incredibly impressed by the organization and tenor of the event. Event workers and volunteers were friendly, the portable potties were incredibly sanitary and at no point was there a sense of people taking themselves too serious. 

This was one of the few courses that I ran by myself, so my overall time was certainly cut, but without any Assassins by my side I was vulnerable to the packs of zombies that littered the muddy course. At some points the course was too narrow to pass without at least four costumed characters grabbing at me. I slipped more than once and lost my third flag with a third of the course yet to run. Aside from the crowds of zombies you had to run around, the course featured monkey bars, a dark smokey house, a small maze, a mud pit, a tunnel of mud and a water slide. I'd say my only reason to complain would be the lack of water pressure at the showers. 

I'm happy to report that I didn't keep the Mrs. waiting for more than 39 minutes - just long enough to run off our Cracker Barrel breakfast and pick up this cool piece of hardware. If you'd like to get a taste of obstacle course racing or just want to have fun running around with zombies, check out Run For Your Lives - and let me know what you think!