3rd Annual Pirate Zombie Mud Run

More Mud, More Zombies, Bigger Obstacles!

Now in its third year, Peninsula College’s annual Pirate Zombie Mud Run promises to be the best race to date. A lot of people don’t like running, some people don’t like the mud and most breathing people don’t like zombies, but when you put them all together people love it.

The idea for the Pirate Zombie Mud Run started with PC President, Dr. Luke Robins sending Rick Ross, Allie Potter and myself a link to a college that did a small zombie run on their campus. When we saw this, we took it as a challenge and ran with it. We couldn’t simply do a little run, it had to be a 5k, and it had to have obstacles and mud, and somehow we needed real zombies; still working on that part.

We thought if we were going to do this, we were going to do it full force. We presented the idea to the ASC and they loved the idea so much that they have been helping fund the race ever since.

The first year we presented our proposal to the college they asked us to do a trial run only open to students to work some kinks out and make sure the zombies played nice. We learned a lot about running a race of this size that first year when we had 83 students sign up.

As with any race, there are a lot of moving parts. We built the majority of the obstacles ourselves and worked with the welding and green building classes to build our first 10 primitive obstacles. The zombies the first year were volunteer students who didn’t want to run the race but wanted to participate in the festivities. The first year was a success and only made us want to do it again the next year for the community.

The 2015 race was open to the public and the pressure was on. We had to step up our game: more mud, more zombies, bigger and better obstacles. The ASC doubled their contribution in order to make a few signature obstacles. Pat Nickerson’s green building classes and Jeramie O’Dell’s welding classes built three major obstacles for us that year; the ramp to the 6000-gallon water tank, a 14-ft high tire climbing wall and the piece de resistance: a 65-ft water slide down the middle of campus. When the campus came out the morning of the slide construction and saw what we were doing, the looks on their faces said that I might need to start looking for employment somewhere else, fortunately I was allowed to keep my job. The slide was key to the success of the event and the college helped with making sure it was safe and appropriately staffed. The event was a hit with 220 participants, 15 obstacles, and six zombie zones. The only blood spilled was from those who were already dead.

This year we have set the bar even higher and will work ourselves into a zombie like state if necessary to make it a success. We are going to be adding two more signature obstacles, which will be revealed closer to race day, and due to the construction of the new Allied Health and Early Childhood Education building our course will have to be altered slightly from last year providing even more opportunities for a fun and challenging course. The goal is to double our attendance and make this event a staple at the college and in the community of Port Angeles.

There is something in the race for the serious competitor and for those who want to simply have fun and enjoy the adrenalin that comes from running from zombies. There is even something for the younger creepy crawlies with time to play on the slide and a few small obstacles at the front of campus. Come run, walk or crawl with the undead around Peninsula College Campus, enjoy a few challenging obstacles, and get a little muddy. Tickets will be sold online through the Peninsula College bookstore.  See you May 7^th at the race!

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