If you live for the return of The Walking Dead, next month’s Zombie Aporcalypse will really get your blood pumping.
Zombie Aporcalypse is the brainchild of Ray Hutchinson, who held the first one last year at the Peninsula Obstacle Racing Course he built two and a half years ago on 22ha at Moorooduc. It was a screaming success.
“There had been a zombie fun run in Queensland and the Zombie Shuffle in Melbourne, but nobody had tried a themed obstacle race before,” Ray says. “We had 250 runners and 50 zombies on the day and a great time was had by all.”
This year the minimum age limit has been reduced from 14 to 12 years and the number of obstacles increased from about 50 to more than 60, but the premise remains pretty much the same: a zombie virus is sweeping the land and the only vaccines are in the PORC wastelands, which are controlled by the zombie hordes. Runners wear lifebelts with three coloured ribbons – or life flags – and must negotiate a 7km obstacle course to find the vaccine and make it back to the safe zone while being hunted by the zombies. If the zombies snatch all three life flags, the runner’s off to “body processing” to join the ranks of the undead.
And while it might seem an easy task to outsprint a shuffling zombie, those 60-plus obstacles will slow you to a crawl … and that makes you easy meat.
Those taking part can sign up as zombies or runners, and there are also plenty of volunteer positions. The zombie role is a non-speaking part (although they will be required to moan and groan a lot). All zombies undergo a professional makeover at the ZTC (zombie transformation centre) before being unleashed on the runners. They also take home an
“I Died at the Aporcalypse” T-shirt . The runners get an“I Survived” or “I Died” T-shirt (depending on how well they managed to evade the hordes) as well as a great zombie photo opportunity. And volunteers get an “I Survived the Aporcalypse” T-shirt and head scarf as well as refreshments throughout the day.
The Zombie Aporcalypse is at the Peninsula Obstacle Racing Course, 480 Mornington-Tyabb Rd, Moorooduc, on Saturday, September 17. Sign up at zombieaporcalypse.com.au
