Zombie Mania continues to infiltrate all facets of pop culture, and now the Zombies are poised to infiltrate the streets of major cities across the nation this year.
The Zombie Run, a 3.1 mile racecourse of gut-wrenching, blood-pumping, sweat-dripping fear, will soon be mounting a 16-city nationwide infestation, for the most exhilarating 5K of your life… if you survive.
The 2013 tour kicks off April 7 in Philadelphia, where it was created, and by the fall also will overrun the streets of Chicago, New York, Miami, New Orleans, Seattle, Denver, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and many other U.S. cities. Complete schedule is below. For the latest information, including early registration deadlines, go to www.thezombierun.com.
The Zombie Run is not your typical hometown 5K run, unless of course, your hometown is infested with an army of marauding Zombies.
By using the popular Zombie theme, The Zombie Run creates a running narrative on a racecourse designed like a Hollywood Apocalypse movie-set – complete with helicopters flying overhead – where participants either run through the course as Zombies, or living Zombie prey. Participants must run to safety, while dodging an imaginatively harrowing barrage of apocalyptic carnage.
The Zombie Run is the only nationally touring Zombie race that takes over the actual streets of each city, and focuses on a fully scripted, suspense-filled back story.
Professional, on-site make-up artists transform normal, everyday, warm-blooded runners into blood sucking, flesh eating Zombies. If you survive, there is a party following the race. The Zombie Run benefits Active Heroes (www.activeheroes.org), a volunteer-led charity helping veterans, active duty military and their families. A portion of proceeds from each event also will be donated to a local charity.
The Zombie Run is the brainchild of 19-year-old Andrew Hudis and 20-year-old David Feinman. Hudis attends the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and Feinman is currently studying at Bucks County Community College in suburban Philadelphia, with plans to transfer to Temple University’s Fox School of Business next year.
“Three years ago, I told David that I always run fastest when I’m being chased,” said Hudis. “We joked that we should start a race where actors chase the runners to the finish line. Eventually, we realized that our idea could actually be a fun race.”
Hudis contacted local haunted houses and asked if he and Feinman could stage a race on their hayride trails, but they all declined.
“We eventually held a Halloween-themed 5K in a local park called the Trick-or-Treat 5-Miler that was a ton of work and never made much money,” says Hudis. “But it was a fun project.”
Hudis and Feinman knew they were on to something and continued to work on their idea for two years. By 2012, they realized that taking a themed run on the road to multiple cities could be a good business.
“We thought about taking the Trick-or-Treat 5-Miler on the road and it eventually evolved in The Zombie Run,” Hudis adds. “We brought Carrie Snyder, a promoter we’d met at other Philadelphia events, on board and The Zombie Run was born. We wrote our whole business model over three meetings in local coffee shops and three months later we were permitted in five markets.”
What makesThe Zombie Run so different than other racing events?
“Our race really focuses on story,” Hudis says. “Like a ride at Disney World, we create an alternate reality over an otherwise mundane experience. We focus a lot on runner experience, and spend the money that other races use on obstacles to enforce our theme and add more carnage to the racecourse.”
Hudis and Feinman have assembled a seasoned team of professionals with over 100 years of collective experience in race and concert promotion, and live event production and marketing, who will help them bring The Zombie Run to the following cities across America:
The Philadelphia Zombie Run – Philadelphia, PA – 4/7/13, 8am – FDR Park
The Louisville Zombie Run – Louisville, KY – 4/21/13, 12:30pm – Iroquois Park
The Charlotte Zombie Run – Charlotte, NC – 5/19/13, 12:30pm – Freedom Park
The New Orleans Zombie Run – New Orleans, LA – 6/23/13, 9am – New Orleans City Park
The St. Louis Zombie Run – St. Louis, MO – 7/14/13, 11am – Queeny Park
The Denver Zombie Run – Denver, CO – 7/28/13, 9:00am – City Park
The Seattle Zombie Run – Seattle, WA – 8/17/13, 11am – Magnuson Park
The Nashville Zombie Run – Nashville, TN – 9/29/13, 7:30am – Shelby Bottoms Park
The Indianapolis Zombie Run – Indianapolis, IN – 10/6/13, 11am – White River State Park
The Miami Zombie Run – Miami, FL-10/12/13, 6pm- Historic Virginia Key Beach Park
The Portland Zombie Run – Portland, OR – TBA
The Columbus Zombie Run – Columbus, OH – TBA
The Chicago Zombie Run – Chicago, IL – TBA
The Brooklyn Zombie Run – Brooklyn, NY – TBA
The Austin Zombie Run – Austin, TX – TBA
The San Francisco Zombie Run – San Francisco, CA – TBA
The San Diego Zombie Run – San Diego, CA – TBA
The Atlanta Zombie Run – Atlanta, GA – TBA
(Additional cities to be announced.)
For The Zombie Run event tickets and information updates, visit www.thezombierun.com.
