Imagine running through a 3-mile race filled with a dozen or more obstacles. Sounds pretty familiar if you’ve done a Warrior Dash, Spartan Sprint, or locally-organized obstacle race.

You’d find yourself moving over and under barriers, climbing cargo nets, crawling through tunnels or under barbed wire, running up steep hills, and maybe even leaping over fire.

Now add countless zombies — the undead scattered throughout the course, salivating for your brains, eager to make you one of them.

And now you have the increasingly popular Run For Your Lives obstacle course: a zombie-filled 5k with natural and man-made obstacles.

With more than 200,000 Facebook fans and 9,000+ Twitter followers, Run For Your Lives is cementing their unique niche in the sport of obstacle racing. RFYL has 12 events planned this year.

I’m signed up for the Boston-area race in Amesbury park on May 5 & 6, just a couple weeks away.

Here’s what I know about the race, what I expect, and how to prepare for it. (more…)