"奔逃活命"游戏 与僵尸赛跑

'Why a zombie race?' asked Derrick Smith, co-founder of the Run For Your Lives races and no relation to Daniel Smith. 'We came up with the name, and we said, 'Well, what do people run from?' We figured zombies was going to be a pretty popular idea,' he said.
戴里克•史密斯（Derrick Smith）是"奔逃活命"比赛的共同创办人，他和丹尼尔•史密斯没有任何关系。他说，"为什么是僵尸赛跑呢？在想这个主题的时候，我们说‘人们一般想要逃离什么东西呢？’我们觉得僵尸会是一个大受欢迎的主题。"

Indeed, zombies seem to be everywhere these days, including on television. AMC Networks Inc.'s apocalyptic zombie drama 'The Walking Dead' has drawn millions of television viewers.
的确，如今僵尸似乎无所不在，连电视节目里都有。AMC广播网的僵尸剧《行尸走肉》（The Walking Dead）吸引了数百万的电视观众。

Zombies in the Run For Your Lives races are split into two groups. 'Chasers' run after racers to grab their flags, while 'stumblers' are supposed to 'crawl, shuffle, drag, or perform any other type of slow movement in order to horrify runners and take their flags,' according to instructions for zombies on the race website.
"奔逃活命"比赛中的僵尸分为两组。根据比赛网站上公布的僵尸规则，"追逐僵尸"在选手后面追踪夺取旗子，而"绊脚僵尸"则要"做出爬行、拖步、拉拽或者任何可以吓唬选手并从其身上夺取旗子的慢动作"。

Mr. Packer, a 41-year-old software designer, was a chaser. He was resting in the shade when two men dressed as Elvis emerged on the path up ahead and began jogging toward him.
41岁的软件设计师帕克是一名追逐僵尸，他正在树荫下休息，这时两名装扮成猫王的男子出现在前面并向他慢慢跑来。

He looked around as if sensing the presence of the Elvises, then reached out with his clawed hands and lurched toward them and two other runners, his back stiffly bent.
他环顾了一下四周，仿佛觉察到了猫王的存在，然后他伸出自己的手爪，步履蹒跚地朝着他们和另两名选手走去，他的背部僵硬地弯曲着。

'I went for the wide-eyed, slobbering, drooling zombie growl,' said Mr. Packer. His startled targets leaped into a sprint down the path to escape.
帕克说，"我努力扮成睁大双眼、流着口水的僵尸，发出巨吼。"被他攻击的对象吓得全速冲刺，匆匆逃离。

Runners Kate Christensen, a 30-year-old microbiologist from Oconomowoc, Wis., and Cindy Rasmussen, a 30-year-old biochemist from Whitewater, Wis., wore plastic hula skirts with hanging green strips that made it harder for zombies to grab their flags. And when Ms. Rasmussen lost her third flag, she started running interference for Ms. Christensen.
30岁的微生物学家凯特•克里斯滕森（Kate Christensen）和30岁的生物化学家辛迪•拉斯马森（Cindy Rasmussen）分别来自威斯康辛州奥康诺摩沃（Oconomowoc）和白水市（Whitewater），她们穿着绿色条带的呼啦舞裙，让僵尸不太容易抓走她们身上的旗子。当拉斯马森失去第三面旗子时，她开始干扰僵尸，以掩护克里斯滕森。

'We worked together as a team and tried to use other people as bait,' Ms. Christensen said.
克里斯滕森说，"我们像团队一样合作，尽量利用别人做诱饵。"

But the zombies worked together too. Daniel Smith, the high-school runner, lost a second flag when a large group of zombies forced him to one side of a path, allowing a chaser zombie to catch up to him. He later dove into a mud hole to protect his remaining flag.
但是僵尸们也会合作。一群僵尸把丹尼尔•史密斯逼到路的一边，一名追逐僵尸追上了他，他失去了第二面旗子。后来，他跳进了泥坑，以保护剩下的那面旗。

Mr. Smith continued on to a maze, where he narrowly escaped a different chaser, and climbed over a cargo net. With the finish line in sight, the race had one more surprise for him - a low, electrified fence to crawl under. Mr. Smith dropped to his elbows and started pulling himself forward.
史密斯继续向前，进入了一个迷宫，在那里他从另一个追逐僵尸手里死里逃生，然后从一张吊货网上翻了过去。终点线已经近在眼前了，但还有一次惊险等待着他──他得从一堵低矮的通电栅栏下爬过。史密斯双肘伏地，开始匍匐前进。

'I looked up to look at the finish line and got zapped in the head,' he said. 'It stung pretty good.' (Organizers later turned off the electricity when a combination of exhaustion and dehydration caused adverse reactions in some runners.)
他说，"我抬头想看一眼终点线，结果头被电着了，着实让人感到刺痛。"（后来由于比赛带来的疲倦和脱水引起一些选手的不满，组织者关掉了电源。）

Mr. Smith learned after he went home that he had finished with the fastest time among living finishers. His prize, which he has yet to claim, was a set of zombie paraphernalia including a keychain, a Run For Your Lives T-shirt and drawstring bag. Asked whether the prizes were worth the ordeal, he hesitated and then said: 'Not that much.'
史密斯回家后才获知，所有"活着"跑完比赛的人中，他用的时间最短。他获得的奖品（他还没有去领取）是一套僵尸主题的用品，包括一个钥匙链、一件"奔逃活命"T恤衫和一个拉绳袋。当问及这些奖品是否值得他去经受这番折磨的时候，他犹豫了一下，然后说，"不是太值。"