Valentine’s Day goes hand-in-hand with romantic dinners for two, red roses, chocolates and of course cheesy (overpriced) cards. For some however, this Valentine’s Day was filled with blood, severed limbs and torn flesh at Durban’s “My Bloody Valentine” Zombie Run hosted at Giba Gorge.
This fund raising charity event started out in Johannesburg as a once off event to introduce the concept of a Zombie Run to South Africa. Since their small beginnings the apocalypse has spread to Durban who has been the proud host of two such events in the past 3 years. Zombie Run South Africa, Out the Box IT, and of course Durbanite wanted to bring something different to Durban in 2015 and so, combined their strengths to do just that.
With the gloomy weather and the sun setting a perfect scene was set for the ultimate zombie apocalypse horror story. Those who dared to run came out in their numbers along with a very gruesome and scary zombie horde who had outfits and make-up to boot! I personally would not like to have bumped into those guys on a lonely dark Giba trail… but for some this was the ultimate experience.
“We had a small market on the go as well as the Giba Café selling food and beverages, many participants stuck around afterwards sharing tales of their adventure and mingling with the un-dead. We had 153 participants and are very excited to announce that we have managed to raise R4500 for CROW! This money will be used to build a new wildlife rehabilitation centre.” Camilla from Out the Box IT commented.
This year’s first place runner won a fantastic prize! Bianca Hauser PR and Marketing officer at Hirsch’s Springfield tells us more, “We are always exited to get involved with community projects and assist charities where able, the same can be said for the Zombie Run. We would like to say a big thank you to DSTV who collaborated with us to sponsor a brand new DSTV Explorer for the first place runner! This was a fantastic initiative and we had a great time being a part of it.”
The other prize sponsors included Paragon Fitness, The Great Camp, Frockabilly, Out the Box IT and Canvas Print Co. as well as H2OASIS who were kind enough to sponsor water for our thirsty runners at the finish line! Although we had no reported injuries we would also like to extend our thanks to Rescue Care (Pty) Ltd for being on site in case of an emergency. Contact details for all sponsors have been listed further down should you wish to read up more.
An event is not complete without some glitz and glam which was welcomed as Miss Earth South Africa Fire 2014, Roxy Watson joined in on the festivities, mingling with runners and inevitably becoming the latest zombie victim! In addition she proved herself well as MC for the prize giving – thank you Roxy for joining us on the day it wouldn’t have been the same without you!
A special thank you to Camilla and Carol for all the behind the scene admin, to Kyle, Nick and Rhain for setting up the trail. To Tim, Rachel and Bridget for getting everyone through the registration process, to the makeup ladies and to each and every person who entered the run! Without your support an event like this would not be possible.
We look forward to bringing Durban many more exciting events and hope that 2016 can bring more support and awareness of environmental charities and the Zombie Run alike.
Like Zombie Run South Africa on Facebook to keep up to date on all the latest news and not to miss out on the next apocalypse.
Like Out the Box IT to view all the amazing services they offer.
Contact Details – Facebook
Zombie Run South Africa: ZombieRunSouthAfrica
Out the Box IT: OutTheBoxIT
Paragon Fitness: paragonfitnessdbn
The Great Camp: thegreatcampdurban
Frockabilly: cherry.lisa.sa
Canvas Print Co.: CanvasPrintCo
H2OASIS website: www.h2oasis.co.za
Hirschs:-
Facebook: Hirschs.Homestore
Website: http://www.hirschs.co.za/specials/clearance-sale/springfield
Rescue Care (Pty) Ltd:-
Facebook: rescuecareza
Website: www.rescuecare.co.za
24 hour emergency number: 0860 RES (737) 911