Members of Stratford’s Obstacle and Adventure Racing Club (SOAR) spent Saturday, Oct. 25, running from the undead.

Three SOAR members participated in the Zombie Run Escape Race in Perry, a race modeled on “The Walking Dead” television storyline.

“It is a 5K race built through a disaster relief-type town built in Perry. You run away from zombies the whole time,” SOAR adviser Mr. Ben McLain said.

The race was held at the Guardian Center, a $330 million disaster preparedness facility.

According to the race’s website, the center’s area spans 840 acres. A multi-story 75-acre urban cityscape contains over 300 vehicles, a subway system, and a built-in interstate highway, which were used as obstacles during the race.

“The venue was a really good place to do an apocalyptic type of scenario,” McLain said.

Participants could choose to be a  zombie, a runner, a volunteer, or a spectator.  The minimum age to be a runner was 11, and the minimum age to be a zombie was 14.

Runners were given three flags at the beginning of the race.  Much like flag football, the zombie runners tried to take the flags away.  Runner who completed the course with one or more flags, they received a “survived” medal, but if they lost all three flags, then they earned an “infected” medal.

Runners could form teams of two to five individuals.  If one person on the team survives with three flags, then the entire group received a “survived” medal.

“The course was difficult enough for it to be fun, but not too difficult that I couldn’t do anything,” sophomore runner Lizzi Clayton said.

SOAR is one of Stratford’s newest clubs.

“SOAR started as an interest group last year. We participated in a color run and spartan race which qualified us to become an official club this year,” McLain said.  “There’s a lot of really fun races out there where you are not just running on the street for 3.2 miles, you are actually challenging yourself to get over a wall, or helping a teammate get over a wall, or climbing up a rope, or sliding down a slide, or getting blasted with color or running from zombies.”

Three students from SOAR participated in the race.  Two runners — Clayton, and freshman Rosalee Spivey — and one zombie, senior Mary Kate Brown.

“I think it will be worth everything because I think that the experience will be one I’ll never forget,” Spivey said prior to the race.

SOAR plans to participate in other races in Georgia, such as the Macon Mud Run, the Color Run, the Spartan Race, and a race in Atlanta that was inspired by the show “Wipeout.”

“There are a lot of fun things to do out there, and SOAR gets people who typically wouldn’t be into running all of a sudden want to be into running,” McLain said.