The fun run starts at the Olympic Sports Complex. (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

Saturday morning, Oct. 18, was a bit dark and damp, a perfect day for ghouls it turns out had you been out jogging the biathlon trails at the Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg. It was time for the Zombie Run.

There they lurked and prayed upon those not yet dead, and, it turns out, ghouls can be quite fleet of foot and motivated to catch you especially if you have a bright orange ribbon hanging from your waist.

You might think that ghouls are attracted to colorful ribbons as a means of bringing a bit of brightness into their gray and grim lives, but not in this case. These ghouls are students in Jen Lawrence’s Spanish class at the Lake Placid Middle/High School trying to raise money so they can go to Costa Rica if not this spring, the following to practice their Spanish and work on community benefit projects. Good-natured ghouls, who would have guessed, but Lake Placid, indeed the Tri-Lakes, is filled with community-minded people that volunteer lots of their time. So why not the living dead?

“I am going to be chasing people because I heard it would be fun and I really don’t have anything else to do over the weekend,” said ghoul Carsyn Rissberger underscoring how dull life can be for the near dead.

“I feel it will be a fun opportunity and it gets the community all pumped up for Halloween,” said fellow ghoul Emma Bishop.

Four ghouls — Emma Bishop, Maggie O’Brien, Carsyn Rissberger and Maeve Daby­ — show their bounty (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

“It is always fun to help out in the community,” said ghoul Maeve Daby demonstrating their noble side. I noted that ghoul Emma was bleeding from a poorly stitched up cut in her cheek to which she laughed, one of those as if a bleeding cut could hurt me laughs. Another responded that her brother who participated the previous year and indicated that chasing people was fun had egged her on.

“I volunteered to help give some people rides, paint faces, and help get some things organized,” said Lisa Rissberger, mom to a ghoul.

“Last April I brought a group to Costa Rica to do a service project,” said Spanish teacher and instigator of the ghoul run. “I’d like to do something like that every three or four years but the cost is so high. I wanted to keep the ghoul run going every year as a way of keeping the kids involved and raising money for those kids who otherwise could not afford to go to Costa Rica. I participated in a zombie run three years ago. I had such good fun that thought it would be a good idea to hold one here. I reached out to the community and they generously donated needed supplies. I have awesome dedicated students who are willing to be out here at 8:30 in the morning setting up the course, and despite the weather people are coming out.”

“I am ready to be chased, yes,” said Olaf Carlson wearing a well-worn pirate’s hat. “I ran the kids race last year with two of mine and a stroller. This year I expect to have a lot of zombies after me, but that’s OK, it’s all for fun. I have not been practicing in eluding kids. I just try to keep the monsters away at home on a daily basis. Nothing other than that, but I have done a little training.”

Ghouls and zombies chased Jon Fremente last year. You might say he was a bit of a lightening rod, but that did not stop him from returning. “I’m a prime target of the zombies,” said Fremente. “I have no idea why they want to go after me specifically at all. I can’t get that. This year I am officially recovering from a knee surgery, in fact it is my third 5K since then so I hope my doctors don’t hear about that.”

“I of course will not mention it,” I said.

“Of course not,” said Fremente. “I never thought you would.”

“I have not practiced chasing adults and I don’t think I’ll have any problem catching them,” said ghoul Logan Ladue.

While the ghouls and zombies headed off to find trees, boulders, and tunnels to hide near or behind, a spirited mile and a half run was held for the very young with boys and girls competing together. Prior to the ghouls departure they were urged not to wait near the tops of hills for their would-be victims – to give them a sporting chance. Such rules were held to until the first runner came in sight, after that it was free for all with some ghouls staying in hot pursuit for an eighth mile or more.

“I got seven,” said ghoul Carson, quite pleased with herself. “Six,” said Maeve equally gleeful, this before the runners had made their return pass. “It feels good to get so many ribbons,” said Carson. “I thought I wasn’t going to get anyone, but I guess I was wrong.”

“I did pretty good,” said Maeve. “This is fun.”

“I think they gave me a little bit of mercy,” said Brandon McCormick at the finish line who carried his son Ayden on his shoulders for the 5K run, and managed to finish with one ribbon intact. Ayden seemed pleased by his dad’s prowess, though made no comment.

“I got my exercise,” said Marc Gavin when it was all over. “It sure doesn’t pay to be out front in a race like this. You get ganged up on pretty quickly. When you are the first one through they are ready for you. They take their job very seriously.”

“I thought my hair would distract the zombies,” said Jody Borzilleri of her purple tresses. “It really didn’t work.”

“I did not make it back with any ribbons,” said Jon Fremente. “There were a couple zombies who made it their personal mission to get my ribbons. I am not going to mention Maeve’s name (or Carson’s I noticed) but the zombies had unbelievable energy. After I passed them they were able to sprint for another 30 yards. They just kept chasing me, but we had a strategy where we would approach as a group, split into different directions, and spin. It worked to get past the zombies, but we did not realize they had sprinting capabilities. For a dead person they had a lot of speed.”

It seems being near dead is not the same as being dead, especially when Costa Rica is in the offering.