My son (age 12) and I decided to do this local zombie run. A local filmmaker wanted to have regular runners running from zombies, to have extras for a film he's doing. I thought, well, what better way to make an attempt at trying to get back into sports than to do a run where you're *supposed* to look like you can't move right? So we entered as zombies - my son dressed as an undead doctor in scrubs, and me as an undead hospital patient -- the perfect way to work in my wheelchair.
The irony of being seemingly resurrected into a "regular" sporting event by being a zombie, rising from the dead -- YOU JUST CAN"T KILL US MS PEOPLE! -- was not lost on me, so I wore the hospital band from my CCSVI procedure, to complete my outfit. I also had a bright red biohazard bag pinned to my nightgown in which to keep my iphone.
I honestly did not know what to expect, and I did not know if I should even have tried to do this. I was the only wheelchair participant there, but people were really excited to see a wheelchair zombie. I decided to go with the excitement energy.
The regular runners had little red ribbons dangling from their torsos, and to "kill" them the zombie runners had to grab a ribbon while running. This seemed impossible for me, since I had to use my hands to keep moving. So at one portion of the race course, I took a cut-through and then hid behind trees, etc., so I could surge out at the racers and use their shock to gain an advantage. I actually did make a couple of "kills," to everyone's delight, and I then concentrated on finishing the course, with the kill ribbons brandished between my teeth, zombie-style.
Everywhere I went people were so excited to see someone doing the race in a chair, and I kept hearing them yelling for me. I appreciated every bit of encouragement -- it was SO HARD. I felt like time disappeared and I was just in this zone where I was alone with myself and the sounds came from far away, and I was just feeling my body and my heart and my throat and just thinking, I can do this, I can finish this!
Incidentally, you should know that I have a manual wheelchair, ultra-lite, that also has power-assist wheels -- so it's not a power chair, but I had some help from the power-assist or I could never have done this at all, since the streets where I live include some very steep slopes. My arms don't have much strength. I also have had a very hard time with trunk strength, just staying upright, as well as balance. And then there was the aerobic element. This was a whole body effort!
Long story short, I know it was only 3k, but it felt like a marathon to me -- but I did do it, and I wasn't even the last one through the finish. (Someone told me that two people came in after me.) I am SO SORE and stiff but I am exhilarated. After we came home and I got clean and washed my hair, I sat outside in the sun and thought, wow, I really feel alive!
Compare -- last year, at Halloween, I was lying down in bed:
This year, rising from the dead!
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