Mud-covered creatures slide down hills, slither over ropes, and plunge headfirst into tangled cargo nets. Around them, the towering walls of an abandoned rock quarry reverberate with the crowd's animalistic growls and cheers. Underneath each coat of mud stands a runner participating in Caveman Crawl's 5K adventure race and mud-run course. Adult racers, separated into timed waves, race against their shoe-clipped timing chips as they bound over, under, and through more than 20 annually changing obstacles. Past challenges involved leaping over lily pads. Smaller racers, aged 4?6 or 7?13, navigate a shorter course with compact versions of the larger obstacles. Along a newly added mountain-bike course, Dual Sport Challenge participants pedal across rocky hills and through swaths of mud and chilly water, all while giving the right of way to commuting mountain goats. The race ends with a massive barbecue where participants celebrate their victory over nature and often receive prizes while refueling with food, drinks, and live music.
The inspiring trainers at each MetaBody location lead troops of workouteers in results-oriented workouts several times weekly. Sweat sessions utilize a variety of exercises and disciplines to produce full-body results in a supportive environment, ideal for beginners and hard-core core-hardeners alike. During any class, motivational instructors will use the instinctual distrust of routine to their advantage. Begin a day of litigating with a refreshing early-morning boot-camp session, or wind down by burning evidence and pounds with a late-evening yoga class. Muscles are kept guessing with new and challenging moves during each session, so participants never fall into a boring, ineffective routine, such as regular teeth brushing. In addition to the fitness classes, students receive a success guide to help prepare for imminent pound loss, a nutrition guide, and a $100 gift certificate for individual coaching. Because the pass sets a 10-class cap at any given location, roving fitness mavens can further shake up their workout regimens by vetting a series of classes or instructors that work best for them.
In order to escape a pack of zombies, it’s helpful to know the strengths and weaknesses of each cannibal in the horde. DFW Zombie Run equips its participants with this type of knowledge, as well as the training that may be necessary for survival in the unlikely event of a zombie apocalypse.
During DFW Zombie Run’s obstacle runs, four types of zombies chase down racers, trying to snag the four health flags worn on the racers’ belts. Among zombies, there are walkers, who “simply walk around looking for an easy meal,” and then there are runners, who are “starving, ferocious, and incredibly fast,” according to the site. Transition zombies occupy the middle ground: they may look like harmless, sleep-deprived milkmaids, but can be unexpectedly triggered to hunt viciously like their runner brethren. Finally, there are creepers who lurk in narrow spaces.
As runners traverse 3K, 5K, or 7K obstacle courses, they dodge all types of zombies in a quest to keep their health flags and gain eligibility for cash prizes. Zombies and racers only interact via flag—there’s no other touching allowed. Zombies are limited to snagging one flag per runner, and runners are limited to using their feet and hands for locomotion.
According to founder Jeff, a passion for “amusement parks, thrill rides, and fitness” inspired the creation of DFW Zombie Run. He also cited “a love for action, adventure, and horror movies.”
Color Me Rad stages 5K races that transform runners into mobile rainbows by launching cheerful barrages of colored cornstarch. Each color station along the racetrack flings a new, nontoxic pigment at passersby, who wear white shirts to enhance the chromatic onslaught's costuming effects. Brilliant neon-blue, green, purple, and yellow clouds dapple participants along the way, and the race concludes with a prismatic finish-line finale as sprinters chuck colors at each other in celebration. The race's noncompetitive credo shifts the emphasis from speed to silliness, and a portion of its proceeds go to local charities.
Upon registration, each runner collects a Color Me Rad T-shirt, sunglasses, sponsor gifts, and a race bib. Though they don't receive a gift packet, runners younger than 8 years old can sprint for free, provided they have a waiver signed by a guardian and won't give in to demands for gold from confused leprechauns.
Running in heels is usually a hassle, but at the annual Stiletto Stampede, it’s a sport. There, women sprint 100 yards in their favorite stilettos, or even, as one past participant did, in chunky platforms with breast cancer awareness’s pink ribbon drawn on the heel. The event benefits breast cancer research and awareness. The Survivor Stampede, for example, is for breast cancer survivors, while the Boot Scoot is for racers in cowboy boots, rather than boots that have recently become self-aware.
The creators of the The Colorful 5K use the term ?run? very loosely. Less of a race, and more a celebration of the human spirit, The Colorful 5K encourages participants to dash, dance, prance, skip, cartwheel, or walk the course as they douse each other in vibrant hues that span the full spectrum. Each run also donates a portion of proceeds to a local charity, which range from Special Olympics affiliates and scholarship funds to city cleanup and beautification projects.