Outbreak Enchanted Kingdom: The day when the dead overran a theme park

A zombie-themed fun run...in the middle of the night...at a world-class theme park? It was every zombie fan's dream!

                                        Outbreak Manila Halloween special official announcement

                                              

                                                    Video from: Outbreak Manila, YouTube
                                                 


      BEFORE MY RUN IN ENCHANTED KINGDOM, I HAD A BLOODY WARM-UP OF WALKING

October, 31, 2012 -  I already left home from Nuvali at around 5:00 PM. Rode a tricycle that I thought it would take me at least to Walter Mart, but there was a change of plans. There was a hellish heavy traffic already that started from Laguna Bel-air. It took me 45 minutes for me to decide whether I should walk from that point on or not, because the traffic wasn't moving an inch at all. I walked while wearing combat boots, and carrying a heavy knapsack filled with extra clothing and a DSLR camera.

Approximately 6:30 PM, I was already in Sta. Rosa Exit. I contacted my running buddies if where were they during that time. They told me that they were in a car, stuck in Sta. Rosa Exit. I told them that we should meet up. I found the, hopped in, and took a bit of rest. They told me that SLEX was also having heavy traffic.

Finally! We arrived at our destination round 7:45 PM. 15 minutes left before our wave started to run, so we hurried inside. We saw a lot of participants wearing costumes like military soldiers, Tron-inspired costumes, superheroes, and monsters. Some of the sponsor booths gave us extra lives if we sign up, or "like" their Facebook pages.

                           A participant cosplaying as Slender Man. Don't mind the guy on the left.

Suddenly, there was announcement telling us that it was already our wave's turn to start. Oh shoot! We didn't have time to surrender our bags to the baggage counter, so we had to run with them.

The emcee briefed us the rules, and what to expect. After that, the air raid sirens had sounded, and we were off! First, we had to run around the theme park's parking area going to the main entrance. The entrance had some zombies, and the path was really narrow considering the bars and the turnstiles there. I already lost one life because I was too slow due to the extra baggage I was carrying.

Zombies! Zombies everywhere! We were running wild. I was really thirsty, but I didn't have a water bottle with me. No water station to be found either. We kept running until we reached a grassy area that was not part of Enchanted Kingdom anymore.

I was separated from my running buddies. I didn't know if they went ahead of me or they were lagging behind. Once again, I was alone and I needed to be with other groups to increase my chance of survival. The area was so dark, so we threaded carefully. There were dimmed lights, and creepy sound effects to keep us on our toes.

                                      

After the grassy part area, we reached the go kart racetrack. I spotted a water station. Hooray! Drank 3 cups of water and splashed two more into my face to freshen up. There were a few zombies on the racetrack, so I managed to traverse without losing a life.

We were back on the main area of the theme park, once again.

       

 After two years, I found this picture of me taken by an official photographer of the event.

   

Poor girl. You had no idea that there was a zombie right behind you. Minus one life flag for you!

Even though the zombies were just actors, some of the runners were really scared. Double thumbs up to the make up artists, and the acting skills of the zombies.

There was an area (somewhere in Rialto) where we had to walk like a zombie in order to survive. Seems like Deadpool just escaped the area.

I already had one flag left, and it was the extra life I got on a sponsor booth. I came across with the undead nun. Fearing that she might get the flag, I approached her, quickly took her hand, put it on my forehead and say "Mano po, sister." After that I quickly fled the area without losing the last flag.

I was almost at the finish line, but first I had to go through the haunted house.

Ffffuuuuuu...the haunted house???!!! I'm a fan of ghost hunting videos, but I'm not definitely a fan of haunted houses in theme parks! I never went inside one before until that fateful night. The runners were piling up at the entrance, so the marshals only allow five people per group to go inside. My head was down, and my eyes were half-closed. The place was scary. I looked up a bit and I saw a scary portrait of  woman there that was looking at me. BANG! There was a slam coming from the piano.There was a zombie standing in a corner right beside of the entrance of the LRT. Wait, LRT? Inside the house? Anyway, I saw the exit and quickly picked up the pace. I got out, and saw the finish line. Finally I survived!

Finally reunited with my running buddies. I was actually ahead of them. We finally claimed our bragging rights. We got a medal and a shirt that says "Keep calm and RUN THE OUTBREAK IS SPREADING!"

It was one of the best Halloween events that I have ever experienced so far in my entire life. The Outbreak Manila team had outdone themselves once again.

DISCLAIMER: Most of the photos here are not mine, so credits to their respective owners.

Outbreak Manila: 2 years ago in Nuvali...

Yeah, I guess it's approximately 2 years late, but I decided to start my zombie apocalypse story here.


APRIL 14,2012 - I'll never forget this day. The day when hell broke loose. The zombie apocalypse just fell upon the Philippines... Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, where I currently live right now to be precise. I wasn't really much of a fan of fun runs, but I was thrilled when I learned about this kind of event. I'm a big fan of zombies in the gaming world, especially the ones in Resident Evil, and Left 4 Dead, so I decided to give it a shot.

IMPORTANT RULES:

*NO WEAPONS ALLOWED - Yes, it was a zombie apocalypse, but we were there to RUN FOR OUR                                                LIVES!

*NO HARMFUL PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE ZOMBIES - They were zombies, but they are still                                                                                                       people, acting like zombies!

*SURVIVE AND HAVE FUN!  - Hey, it's a FUN RUN!

The running grounds consisted approximately 5 kilometers of mostly grassy, rocky, and unpaved roads , so it was a hell of a run, in addition of the zombies that tried to catch us. The red strips of plastic that you see around the waists of the runners represented the life flags, and the goal of the zombies were to snatch the 3 red flags . Imagine yourself running with all that I have mentioned under the freakin' summer heat! Fortunately, there were water stations on the way that gave us COLD MINERAL WATER. Refreshing!

I was with my sister from the starting point.  When we started to run, we dashed towards the end, going to a detour where the unpaved roads start. Unfortunately, my sister tripped, rolled like a barrel, and crashed into a fence. A zombie kindly pulled her up. Yes, a ZOMBIE pulled her up. After a few minutes, she decided to give up because she was injured, so from that point on, I was a lone wolf. To survive, I tried to blend in with other groups, and used them as my human shield in a subtle way.

There were challenges and obstacles that might give you additional life flags, I only got an extra by just crawling under the wires like the ones used in an army's boot camp with live machine gun fire shooting at them just to keep the newbies' heads down. Of course, there was no machine gun on my experience.

I stumbled upon a sign that says "Easy way" which pointed on the right, and the "Horde way" which pointed on the left. The marshal in charge there told us that the "Easy way" had less zombies, but  a longer route, while the "Horde way" had more zombies, but a shorter route. I observed that more people were going on the "Horde way", so I guessed my chances were better if I took that path as well. They were not kidding at all, it had a lot of zombies! Some of them were just sitting on the tall grass though. They looked so dehydrated under the sun. I wondered who had a harder time, the zombies or us?

I saw another obstacle. There were a lot of zombies in a small path, impossible to outmaneuver them. There was a marshal there as well, and a large barrel. The marshal said the barrel contained "zombie guts". We had to wrap some around our bodies, walk like a zombie, and pass by the horde. I passed by them without losing a life! Yes!

Two lives left, and I saw another obstacle. I can't describe it, so I have decided not to describe it anymore. LoL! I was almost at the finish line, and there was only one zombie standing in the way between me and my survival. She looked like Sailor Moon...with one eye gouged out, dangling on her face. Amazing prosthetics she got there! There was a family with me, a couple with 3 kids. They couldn't outrun Sailor Moon zombie, so while she was fixated on them I used the opportunity to pass by her. Finally! I was steps away to the finish line. I crossed it. I SURVIVED!

I feared that I might trip during my run, so I decided to leave my gadgets behind. I didn't have much photos during my survival run. Anyway, the zombies came up all in different shapes and sizes. They even had zombie Michael Jackson!

The runners also had the opportunity to wear anything they want. These middle eastern-looking guys looked prepared for the summer heat. The others wore like a fully-geared soldiers, Disney princesses. I even saw guys who wore nothing but boxers! I wondered how were they during their run.

I received my bragging rights. A tote bag containing this awesome shirt, and some other stuff from their sponsors. Thanks to the event, I also received sunburns on almost every exposed part of my body, except my forehead because I was wearing a beret. Imagine me, a dark-faced dude with a fairly white forehead. LoL!  Outbreak Manila was really an awesome, and unforgettable experience!