A no-brainer: 1,700 line up for zombie game of tag in Ghent

NORFOLK

Three hours before the zombie-themed game of tag began in Ghent, a line already had formed Friday evening.

It snaked from the check-in points in the parking lot of Trinity Prebysterian Church, wrapped around the building and trailed down Spotswood Avenue.

The mostly college-age adults chatted with each other or texted on their iPhones. Some dressed in workout gear warmed up with stretches on the sidewalk.

The crowd was calm and orderly as Whitney Metzger, the event organizer, frantically attended to more than 60 volunteers.

“It’s organized chaos,” the 26-year-old office administrator said. “Can’t you tell I’ve done this before?”

Metzger whipped her ponytail as she surveyed all the activity . Her name popped through the air as volunteers needed clarification on the rules of the game – or more yellow bands for the “zombies” and green ones for the “humans.”

Participants had to collect stamps at four checkpoints – with two bonus checkpoints – without being “bitten,” or two-hand tagged, by a zombie. Runners tagged by zombies became zombies.

After sundown, about an hour before the race, the church parking lot swelled almost to capacity and spilled onto Colonial, choking the avenue, which police had blocked off.

Alex Moran, 24, and Matt Scarce, 23, had spent nearly an hour getting their faces painted deathly green and black. The two brain-eaters, Old Dominion University students by day, sported deep red gashes and open scars. They also donned running shorts and sneakers, and offered no mercy.

“I’m going to go all out. I’m going to prey on the weak,” Scarce said.

Only a handful seemed to escape a flesh-eating fate.

Kirk Jeter, a 24-year-old car salesman , signed up for event “the exact second” he heard about it. He dodged the masses and made it successfully to the finish line at a 21st Street restaurant. He said he pretended to be a bystander, and hid his wristband when the zombies came close.

By the end of the night, Moran had tagged eight or nine humans.

“I hope they do this every year,” he said.

City spokeswoman Terry Bishirjian said about 1,700 people attended the event, including Mayor Paul Fraim, and no serious public safety problems were reported .

“It was a tremendous success. This is what living in a city is all about,” she said.

Participants were already talking about a bigger and better event next year, she said, and the city would work to accommodate them.

Rashod Ollison, (757) 446-2732, rashod.ollison@pilotonline.com