Over the weekend, me and my team mates took part in an event, first of its kind, held at Canyon Paintball, in
Bukit Utama. Although its called Zombie Run, its not actually a distance running,
but more like a challenge, the obstacle were zombies, other runners and the
geographical area itself. Its team of five, and I was their Captain.
This is the first time im teaming up with Morjan and Syuk,
which I’ve known them being a strong runner, but not into something like
this. My buddies Elah and Fakri, both strong paddlers and strong racers. It
turns out the formation went well, except I didn’t get there earlier so that we
don’t get much to talk before it started. My strategy was to -- *beep* (like I
would share it with you :P ) but if we were to carry out the idea, we would
have been victorious!
Arrived few minutes late (bad traffic all the way to be
blamed), the briefing already started. Frantic calls coming from my team mates,
as we (me n syuk) were trying to get to that place desperately. I know Bandar
Utama quite well, but the road leading to Centrepoint kind a blur a bit.
among the booth open that day. Volunteering anyone? (dpt tshirt free) :)
SAYS what? :P they were here too!
Once there, we hastily put on our gears and strategize a
bit. Before we started, I decided to divide ourselves into smaller group and
there were 5 zones that we needed to go into, and safely come out of it with
designated colour token. Well, it didn’t go well as planned. Once the zombie
started chasing us, it’s every man for himself.
There were few types of zombies. Among them are Sari Aunty, Miss Universe and bride zombie. One who just walks slowly
and didn’t bother to grab your flag, one that screams out of ’its’ lung and the
one that really chase you around, I mean until it grab your life strap!
Some of these zombies are runners too, so dont you think u need to be atleast fitter than them in order to avoid being chased down? :P Captains have two of them (life straps), while the other members of the group have one each.
Losing it, you are as good as ‘dead’.
Watch out for these particular zombies that will chase you, i mean, really chase you down! there were zombies that get over excited and chase you down no matter what, breaking the rules of no physical contact between them. All the risk should have been told to both runners and zombies beforehand. Some zombies complained they were kicked back, slapped while they did the same to runners too!
Watch out for these particular zombies that will chase you, i mean, really chase you down! there were zombies that get over excited and chase you down no matter what, breaking the rules of no physical contact between them. All the risk should have been told to both runners and zombies beforehand. Some zombies complained they were kicked back, slapped while they did the same to runners too!
dont tell me you're not afraid of them! surreal makeup!
now Clown zombie! thats horrible! :P
Zone 1 was effortless, since the zombie aint moving, but the
rest of the zone were a bit challenging, especially zone 4 and 5. We regroup
right after, to make sure everyone still has their life strap, and checking who got
the ‘token’ for their respective zone.
Many were thinking by joining this run it just only fun run
event, without thinking of the risk it involved. Few were hospitalized (some
were severely injured), mainly due to the pushing and blindly jump somewhere to
make sure the zombie didn’t get the life strap. The last wave seen many youngsters (prolly
around 15 yrs old) took part, which they might get pushed by much older runners. An age limit should have been imposed to ensure the safety of
much younger runner. A category for their age might be a good idea as they
will fight among themselves and stands a better chance of surviving.
For Zone 2, Elah and Syuk took the challenge while me,
Morjan and Fakri proceed to Zone 4 and
5. There were no signage or whatever, and there were lots ( I mean lots) of
false information being pass around the runners, causing us to go and
check the area few times (which you need not doing so once u get all 5 colored
chips (token). We went for Zone 3 the last, and Fakri emerged shortly with a
token in his hand. And once we done,
someone said “No, u have to wait 45 minutes before you can even submit them
chips”. Bodo! I won’t listen to you. I just went ahead to the Start/Finish line
and submitted our tokens and timing. As the time we submitted our tokens, only
3 teams were successfully completed the course with every member still ‘alive’.
scene from Zone 4. Stop and think what to do first :P
watch out, above you!
depending on your wave, as at this wave, the zombies are pretty energetic!
eh Zombie Makcik Nasi Lemak pun ader? :P
even inside those bushes!
Basically, move as fast as you can, watch your back, and dont touch/push/slap/kick others in the process (including the zombies) :P
Many were frustrated as they were ‘killed’ as early as few
minutes after they got into the zone. As I said, bigger and longer course would
ensure everyone enjoy the run and will share good feedback once it’s over. It’s
better than having a whole group of disgruntled runners who paid a pricy
fee and dead (kick out from the run) in few minutes after it started. I don’t
know about you, but for RM75, I get to enjoy a Half Marathon distance run for
that matter (which took about 2hrs and 30 minutes to complete) :). It don’t have to be in a bushes or
jungle-themed, but ‘outbreak’ can happened inside a city too kan? Let say
Putrajaya? (lots of office building, lots of spaces, less public during the
weekend) :) after all, the zombie is protecting the area where the token is
located, and not the whole city, right?
This is how you'll lose your life strap easily
At least the organizer should have put up a water station somewhere along the course or at the Start/Finish area. An iced cold Milo would certainly be great ‘reward’ after running for your life in a humid environment. The idea of putting up booth for selling food is kind a, out of place as those finishing their wave just went straight back, either to Centrepoint or One Utama to have their snacks and drinks, and those came for afternoon, evening waves already had their lunch before going there.
Overall it was fun and challenging and exciting you must
say. As it’s the first time and there’s lot of room for improvements, im sure
the 2nd edition would be much more kick-a**. I just wish that those
who wish to take part, bare in mind its not a fun run or something like that,
its more like an adventure race or trail run, with obstacles and risk of
getting injured is high. Thank god our team managed to finish it without any of
our life strap being grabbed by the zombie and injury-free, but the timing isn’t
that good. There’s always next time kan? Well, we’ll try again next year for
sure.
Once done, we collected our ‘beautiful’ goody bags and I went to ask Lord Zombie himself whether we should wait for the result. As he mentioned that there will be only one winner, I guess our time don’t really stand a chance (we might have spent like 15 to 20 minutes inside there) so we decided to go back. What’s suprising is that, Centrepoint doesn’t have a Surau, and that one of the thing that the Organizer should have take note. And it’s not 7 minutes’ walk from Centrepoint, more like 15 minutes (more or less).
Im sure with better management and better sponsorships, this
event would certainly be one that everyone will talk about later.
with the 'Lord Zombie ChaCha'
Oh ya, the winning team called Band of Brothers, with a stunning record time of completion : 14 minutes with all life spared. Only 10 teams out of 200 teams that took part got perfect score, and we proud to say we are one of them! Wohoo! Top 10. We'll win this next year! :P
Team Budget Good-Good :P
News clipping here
Enjoy this vids credit to Ramon Fadli :
Zombie Run Malaysia 2013 from Ramon Fadli on Vimeo.
And another one : credit to runningtortoise
Picture credits to Youth on Unity
yeah! we are in the club! :P
Pros
First time ever! although someone claimed that its been done before
in Terengganu, but I don’t think its as big as this :) Kudos for the organizer.
This is not a Halloween party to compare with. Surreal makeup! Nicely dress-up zombie! (ala-ala
macam dalam Walking Dead < which im a big fan) and in fact, i thought i was running for my life in a zombie drama! :P
We survived the apocalypse! Yup, all our life ‘strap’ was intact!
Aint that a feat!
Love them tee (better if Dri-fit). Wonder why Malindo air
didn’t give free tickets (commencing in March 2013) :P
RM30 for Just Pie! But we will only get to enjoy it after
25th March (within a week). Sigh..
Lucky draw after each wave! Malaysian love freebies.. lol …
(isn’t that a must have in every event?) :P
Meant for those really fit and athletic. Otherwise, you are
just a ‘dead meat’. Fast paced ensures your survival. Again, this is no Fun Run
on Saturday morning okeh..
Get the local radio stations involved. Good for publicity.
Get those FlyFM Troopers, or SuriaFM Wheels (for example) to come and do side
activities. They come for free (only need to keep em update on the event). Still
keep the participants limited. People will get over excited :P
Those bibs can be recycle. We need not to use it after that.
Luggage counter please?
Cons
Briefing was not that clear (better PA system next time) or brief captains instead. We'll know what to say to our team members. As i said, once those Zombies start chasing you, everyone forget their team mate :P
Not sure about the timing for each team. Need to record everything inside a laptop or a tab or something. Faster to tally result something like that. Then result can be announced sooner. Having them written on paper, well, they might lost it somewhere.
No warm up, which easily leads to injury. Warm up was mentioned during the 'courtesy call'. Better impose on that.
No banner, signage to guide the runners to the venue.
Atleast a banner at the entrance to the Bukit Utama residential area, or main
junctions leading to the venue.
Fee RM75 and there’s only one ultimate team winner. Atleast
top 3 teams should have got something. It may be RM100 per team or whatever,
but winning is something! :P
Marshalls weren’t enough. Therefore, few claims that those
that already ‘dead’ still fighting for the token and gave em to their partner, thus, shortage of token.
Boo cheaters!
Not soo easy to pull the life strap off your back, but the
bib got rip off easily instead. Would a belt works better?
Small space. Do it at much bigger facility over a longer
distance :P Smaller space, challenging, but prone to injuries as everyone
pushing and trying their best not to be ‘dead’.
Scary.
Didn’t find the Market Place. Everyone busy looking for the
marshal that gave out the token instead.
Safe zone wasn’t clearly marked/informed. A tent with medic
attending an injured runners were stormed by a zombie, and causes more
injuries instead!
Promised a medal, but we got a key chain instead (it peel
off easily)
Those who cause injuries to others should have been
disqualified. They weren’t. Some were playing fair. Others just don’t care as
long as their team win.
Should have asked the Captain of the team to show all the bib of its
team mate to confirm how much ‘lives’ the team actually has, not just verbal
proof from its captain.
Goodies are OK. That 8GB thumbdrive(s) deserve a thumbs(drive) up!
Sell them tickets online. It’s a hassle to go the ticket
counter (waste money, time, fuel) and have to face with bad traffics. Charge a
small fee, ppl don’t mind. Trust me. Better than going to hunt it down, and found
out that its already sold out. Right? and, all you need is your ID for registration during the race day, whats the purpose of the tickets then? Its fun la when your house is 10 min away driving. but its the complete opposite if you need to drive half and hour just for that tickets. Get what i mean?
Let us know what are the prizes that we ‘put our life on the
line’ for? Atleast we ‘died’ knowing what we actually fight for, right? Some
said Ipad Mini, some say other things. It can easily be manipulated, and we
won’t know right? Im not accusing, just suggesting :) I trust you wont do
something like that. And what im suggesting based on my experience.
And when you promised medals, it should be at least a
plastic/wood/pewter/iron kind a medal (with a lanyard). Not a keychain.
A dri-fit tee would be awesome goodies to have, as I would
wear that everywhere I go and help promoting this event, FOC. A cotton one,
hmm.. lets say its too humid in Malaysia to wear it regularly.
Courtesy call is not
necessary. Email is fine.
Just fill in a form with 5 columns, for registration. Easier
no? Then ask the participant to make the payment, and each team got their
registration number. Done. No need tickets for that matter. Better yet, email
the soft copy of the form together with indemnity form, have them submitted
during the race day. Settle.
Ensure sufficient tokens, goodies, etc.
Ensure sufficient tokens, goodies, etc.
(these Cons were extracted from those giving reviews at Zombie
Run 2013 Malaysia Facebook’s wall and my own opinion).
Well, I do hope the organizer will improve and not seeing
all the comments as a negative one. We, on the other hand, still register and
took part in this event in the first place, even though many choose not to put
their trust is such ‘first time’ event such as this. For me, what Lord Zombie
did was awesome and salutes him to bravely organize something like this.
Please, next time, make it even harder! Haha.. what say you?
