Zombie Dash-The Ultimate Adrenaline Rush

Run a five kilometer course within the quarantine area. Conquer the infamous Apocalypse Avenue with its abandoned cars and Kill Hill. Dodge zombies looking for “fast food.” Race against darkness and survive the Zombie apocalypse.

You’ll be given three “life strips” – flag football flags – to tuck in your shorts or pants, if you want them. (If you’re a bit freaked out by this format, just run without them and the zombies won’t reach for you.). For each one you keep safe until you exit the quarantine area, you’ll have one minute subtracted from your time. No worries if you lose the three strips; you are not disqualified. Just keep running and enjoy the experience of running the most unique night race ever held.

Kids 10 and under can run FREE with their parents (requirements: do not register them, non-timed, no shirt; sign waiver and pick up special bib at registration). Kids 10 and under that want an official time and shirt must pay the full entry fee.

WARNING: The course involves streets with potholes, a short but pitch-black trail, scrambling up the largest hill in Grand Rapids, going down a steep stairs with a center handrail but some missing outside rails, stepping over curbs, and navigating the Riverwalk’s occasional stairs and narrow spots. It may or may not be dark when you run and lighting is not bright in most areas. Do NOT register for this race if you are not prepared for these conditions.

EVEN BETTER THAN LAST YEARThree life strips instead of two to give you a better chance of survival!

• DJ with high-octane sound system for pre-race communication and music
• Smaller first wave/heat (speaker was turned the wrong way so the wave got huge!)
• We’re focused on making sure walkers stay single file and zombies stay spread out in areas prone to bottlenecking

COST
Entry fees shown below do not include fees charged by EventBrite for registration and credit card fees. Those fees ($3.47 for runners) are added to our entry fee and shown on the Registration page. Refund options are listed below the registration section.

• Regular Registration (thru 10/19): $45, including long-sleeve tech shirt
• Late Registration (10/20-10/22): $45, does not include shirt
• Kid runners 10 and under: free with parent entry (do not register your child)
• Zombies: free, but must register
• Zombies with shirt: $15

ZOMBIE ROLE
Zombies stay out on the course for all waves. Zombies do not run the course; they wait for runners along the way, scaring them and grabbing their life strips but at a realistically slow pace. Any zombies who are over-aggressive, knock down runners, or make the experience miserable for any reason will be eaten. Seriously, we reserve the right to yank you off the course or ban you from future races for obvious infractions. We will require you to wear a race number on your back so we can record jerk zombies and ban them from the next race. More on this under the Rules page.

Zombies will be required to wear race numbers on their backs so we can capture contact information for those zombies ruining a fun experience for runners and ban them from the next race until they change their unruly ways!

Can runners dress as zombies? That would be really confusing and might result in cannibalism. The zombies have expressed offense to anyone thinking they would intentionally eat one of their own. Please pick one role or the other. Zombies eat, runners run. No one eats and runs.

Zombies participate for free but you must register online via credit card. We may cap the number of zombies, likely at 350.

WALKERS
This is the Zombie Dash, not the Zombie Walk. However, walkers will be allowed ONLY if they walk single-file on the Riverwalk, trails, and sidewalks. Based on numerous complaints last year, walkers can be removed from the course if they block runners or have their race number written down and not allowed to walk next year. Please be considerate of those runners who want to dash. If we have several complaints, we will ban walkers next year. The reason there is no walking wave at the end of the race is we would have to keep the course open longer which would incur over $1,000 in additional City of Grand Rapids/GRPD staff costs.

AGE LIMITS/SAFETY
We will leave it up to the parent(s)’ discretion whether to have their kids run with life strips; just be aware that the chance of a collision with a zombie is much greater with the strips than without. All runners 13 years and younger must run with a parent or guardian. We recommend that runners 14-17 be in a group but it is again at the parents’ discretion. We will have volunteers and police on the course but we can’t cover the entire 5K.

Zombies should be at least 14 years old to grab life strips from runners or of a stature that would handle a collision with a runner coming by at full speed. Zombies younger than 14 must be with their parents in the “no feed” zones located at the beginning and end of the race (north zones). Zombies 14-17 should be with a parent or guardian or in a group per parent approval.

The goal is to minimize the risk of collisions between adults and young kids. Safety is really important, especially with a race at night. If you have a child who is near 14 and can definitely handle a collision, you may ask for an exception. Email Mark VanTongeren, the race director.

A parent or guardian must sign the waiver for anyone under 18, runner or zombie.

Your children may NOT be left unattended at the start/finish or anywhere on the course while you run.

SHIRT 
All runners (and zombies who pay $15) who have registered by the Sunday before the race receive this long-sleeved tech shirt (men’s/adult crew or women’s v-neck) at check-in. Some people find that the sizes run a bit large so if you are between sizes, you may want to try the smaller size. You can swap shirts once same-day check in ends at 7:00 pm.

MERCHANDISE 
Zombie 
Dash 16 oz. stainless steel mugs will be available for purchase at check-in for $10. Magnets (bumper-strength) are $4. We believe these prices are lower than almost all other races.

PRIZES
Although this is purely for fun, we will have prizes for fastest finishers and raffle winners (including Gazelle Sports gift cards, Walking Dead DVDs, etc.).

The race will be professionally chip-timed by Epic Race Timing. Your time starts when you cross the start and finish line mats. Please avoid the mats before the race.

OUR CHARITY
We will give 15-20% of our profits (depending on number of volunteers) to Michigan Blood and the Michigan Blood Stem Cell Programs. Proceeds will allow runners and zombies to register for the Be the Match national marrow donor program at no charge. This is normally a $104 test. For more details on the cause and how you can support it, see below.