Students were putting on make-up to look their scariest and even a clown zombie made an appearance. At one table, the blood was being mixed in a Tim Hortons coffee cup.
“Do you guys want to do a bullet hole on me?” Asked Annika Dyck, a first-year library and information technician student. She sought more make-up to be a realistic zombie.
They were doing it for the Sept. 30 zombie run, where students participated in a five kilometre run passing through two zombie-infected zones: the school’s soccer facility at Z-building and the park behind P-building.
Each runner began with two flags and the goal for the runners was to make it through the five kilometre run with the two flags still intact. The zombies’ goal was to grab these flags. If a runner loses both flags they become infected – but are still able to finish the race. If they finish with both flags they are a survivor and get bragging rights. Out of this year’s 40-runner race, only three survived.
The event, currently in its third year, saw a turn-out of 25 zombies.
Wayne Boucher, the college’s fitness and wellness coordinator, described the zombie’s speed as a middle ground between the television show The Walking Dead, where zombies would shamble or lurch at runners, and the film 28 Days Later, where zombies would sprint. The lower amount of zombies ended up doing a quick jog.
The run was also for the Students Association food cupboard. In its second year, the entry fee for the run was switched from money to five non-perishable food items.
The run itself was the brainchild of Algonquin’s athletic administrator, Martha Peak. Boucher and Peak were discussing doing something like the Spartan Run obstacle race, but when Peak suggested the zombie run, Boucher knew they struck gold.
“I was like, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” said Boucher, making a mind-blown gesture with his hands. “It’s easier to do and it’s a lot of fun, so I ran with it.”
Some of the volunteers and runners were doing the run for their courses in the college’s health and fitness promotion program. For the program’s Edgar Juarez, his running strategy was survival instinct.
“You don’t have to outrun the zombies,” said Juarez. “You just have to outrun the slowest guy.”