XCX-a race with personality

Last weekend when LaLa and her hubby came to visit me in mid-MO I didn't have to look far for stuff to do. The XCX was a perfect commencement to a relaxing weekend with my sister. What's more fun than rising with the sun to take on a 4 mile obstacle course in the middle of a forest?! Now hear me out....

1. the Cross Country Xtreme is a private race where there's no stop-watch

2. the prizes aren't for speed, but for best costume and muddiest racer.

3. obstacles include clowns with chainsaws, crawling under (mock) barbed-wire, slopping through mud and waist-deep streams, fields of firecrackers, and smoke bombs, etc.

4. contestants include the coolest of the cool in mid-MO

LaLa and I were stick figures with our sidekicks- a dirty hippi and champion luchador. We did not take home the grenade trophy or the sacrificed leg nailed to a board trophy, but the race was a feat accomplished with great pride. The mud caked to our shoes and the stench of our costumes were memento enough.

Walk of the Living Dead

What would you think if you saw 50 zombies walking down the street mumbling and screaming bloody murder? This was the scene in downtown Columbia the night of All Hallows Eve. Columbia Access Television (CAT) from the Stephen's College campus sponsored the first annual Zombie Walk in Columbia. Participants met at Stephen's in costume to have their faces painted before prowling downtown and scaring the life out of some Columbia residents.

Zombie Walks have become a popular community event all around the United States, and in other parts of the world, too. It could have to do with two major trends:

1. Zombie Movies. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of Zombie movies made per year has increased threefold. Between zombie horrors and zombie comedies, the film industry is doing something right.

2. Michael Jackson Following: Chicago held as Michael Jackson Thriller Zombie Walk after his death this summer. The Thriller Video from 1983 is still a very popular, creating the image that zombies are good dancers and hang out with Michael Jackson.

Has your city had a Zombie Walk? What kind of zombie would you be?

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