Zombies on the loose! For brave souls who dare, Apollo Park will once again be the scene of red-hot zombie action – and it’s all for a good cause. My Big Fat Greek Zombie Run, a fundraiser for the 2017 spring break overseas trip for the Homewood-Flossmoor High School band, is slated at the park from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.
during the 2014 Zombie Run. (Chronicle file photos)
Zombies on the loose!
For brave souls who dare, Apollo Park will once again be the scene of red-hot zombie action – and it’s all for a good cause.
My Big Fat Greek Zombie Run, a fundraiser for the 2017 spring break overseas trip for the Homewood-Flossmoor High School band, is slated at the park from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.
woods during the 2014
Zombie Run.
The band will travel next spring to Greece, where members will put on several performances at local venues.
Organizers say the event gives participants a chance to “run for their lives” from hungry zombies over a 2.5 kilometer trail at the park. Apollo Park is located at Morgan Street and Bowling Green Road in Homewood.
The “apocalyptic party” will include music and obstacles along the course. Costumes are encouraged.
Anne Colton, who helped bring zombie runs to life in 2013 and 2014, said this year’s crop of creepy, crawly undead will be wearing professional-grade theatrical makeup, thanks to a partnership with Homewood-based Theater Arts Leadership Kouncil (TALK). Teens from TALK will be on the scene to apply especially horrific makeup to the zombies.
During the 2013 and 2014 runs, zombies — actually H-F band members — chased runners in an attempt to take away “health flags.” Runners who lost some of their flags were “infected”; if they lost all their flags, they became “lunch.”
About 200 runners participated in the 2013 zombie run; about half that number ran in the 2014 event.
This year, the zombie run will be more geared toward families, Colton said.
“We had initially imagined that it would be more of an adult thing, but over half of our runners were under the age of 10,” she said. “So this year we are going to be targeting it even more toward kids and families.”
The upcoming run will be less of an athletic event and more of a “haunted house with a cardio component,” Colton said.
She added that every zombie will be under strict orders to be as scary as possible, right up until a child starts getting too scared.
“Then they will drop the zombie routine and reassure the child that it’s all in fun and no one’s getting hurt,” she said. “We don’t want anyone having any traumatic memories.”
All proceeds from the zombie run go into a pool fund that will be split by band members as they raise money for the trip to Greece, scheduled for March 23 to April 2, 2017.The band tour is sponsored by the Homewood-Flossmoor Fine and Performing Arts Council (H-F FPAC).
Interested persons can register online for My Big Fat Greek Zombie Run at www.hffpac.org/band.
Costs are $30 for adults, $20 for students with IDs and $70 for a family of up to six. T-shirts are included in the registration cost. However, participants must register by Oct. 10 to secure a T-shirt.