Running and screaming for your life has never been this enjoyable as Outbreak Manila once again gave fitness, zombie apocalypse fans and everyone in between an exhilarating, scream-filled experience last weekend. Filipinos have long been fascinated with zombies and the many stories around them and have long wished to have an experience in what it would be like if there was a zombie apocalypse in the Philippines. Outbreak Manila 2019 gave them that as their screams filled the Filinvest City Events Grounds that entire night. arkadymac.com has been Outbreak Manila’s media partner since 2014, and we are glad to bring you the highlights from our coverage.
This year, Outbreak Manila, the country’s biggest and longest-running zombie run, is one of Haunted Manila Festival’s main attractions. HFM 2019 is a ghoulishly delightful festival 6-nights long which became became the Metro’s Halloween hot spot throughout its run from October 26 to 31, showcasing lots of attractions, games, contests, entertainment, all in one place at the Filinvest City Events Grounds.
Ever since it started back in 2012, Outbreak Manila has been held in different parts of the Metro, adding a whole new twist to the typical 5-kilometer run and giving people a reason to run as if their lives depended on it. This year, runners had to evade bloody, flesh-eating, flag-grabbing zombies and navigating through challenges and obstacles spread over the length of the race.
When it was first announced that Outbreak Manila will be returning this year, the faithful as well as the curious have been making their reservations for their slots, as the thought of missing the latest installment of the Outbreak Series a frightening thought in its own right. Runners got to choose batches or “waves” where they get to participate in, with participants being released into the course at set intervals.
Of course, each participant doesn’t put their mortal lives on the line. Each participant was given a belt with three life flags representing their health. Zombies would attack them along the way to grab them. If a participant lost all their health, they would be considered “dead.” Those who got to reach the finish line with at least one life would be considered “alive” and get a dog tag as proof that they have survived the run. This year there were also challenges and obstacles to make things a bit more interesting on top of the army of zombies on their tail. Costumes are highly encouraged as they make the experience even more enjoyable.
After instructions, the runners of the current wave are led into the holding area where runners had to decide on being which “course” they wanted to be in, humorously named “appetizer,” “main course,” and “dessert,”with reference to the zombies of course. The host did a great job of revving and psyching them up for the run, all bursting with adrenaline as they were finally given the signal to run.
Being a zombie run, the stars of the event were the ones who brought the participants running and screaming in terror. The zombies’ epic appearance were created from scratch with makeup and other effects that were magnificently done by a superb team of makeup artists, making their subjects as scary and as believable as any zombie can get.
And in between finishing the makeup and special effects and before the grueling job of chasing down tasty humans, there was still a bit of time for memes and horseplay.
After the Outbreak, the night’s festivities was hardly over as the Zombie DJ party had attendees dancing and reveling in the fun all night long.
We congratulate the admirable, creative people behind Outbreak Manila for organizing this huge, fun event, as everyone we met who took part in it said they had the time of their lives. Thank you as well for accommodating our team. We eagerly look forward to the next edition of Outbreak Manila.
Many thanks as well to our friends who went with us as zombies and joined in the fun. Your help was very much appreciated by our website.
And many thanks to our Correspondents and Photographers: Celine, Ianah, Sage and Czyrah for helping us cover this year’s Outbreak Manila. Our gratitude as well to the Ticar family for their endless support.
Thank you for dropping by, and do visit us again for more features here at arkadymac.com.
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