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Daniel Smith had run over hills, scrambled through streams and climbed over walls on a recent hot Saturday here, when he came face-to-face with his greatest obstacle yet: a field full of zombies.
印第安纳州奈茨敦（Knightstown），最近一个炎热的周六，丹尼尔•史密斯（Daniel Smith）越过山岗，穿过溪流，翻过高墙，这才与他的最大障碍正面相遇：一片遍布僵尸的田野。
He dodged through about 20 groaning, glassy-eyed antagonists with oozing facial wounds and streaks of red splattered across their clothes. 'I felt like it was just nonstop sprinting for my life,' said the 18-year-old from nearby Yorktown.
他左躲右闪，避开了大约20个目光呆滞、不停呻吟的敌手，他们脸上的伤口渗滴着血液，衣服上溅满了红色血斑。史密斯说，"我感觉就像为了逃命在不停地全速奔跑。"18岁的史密斯是个高中生，家住附近的约克城（Yorktown），他在学校参加过径赛和越野赛跑。
Mr. Smith, who runs high school track and cross-country, paid $87 for the privilege, while the zombies chasing him paid $25 - and got a free makeup job and, for those over 21, a complimentary beer at the end of the race.
史密斯玩此游戏支付了87美元，而追逐他的那些僵尸则每人支付了25美元──化妆是免费的，那些年龄超过21岁的人在比赛结束后还可以获赠一杯啤酒。
Obstacle-course races and zombie-themed events - from proms to marches to film festivals - have been spreading across the country like a flesh-eating bacteria. Now, a series of races called 'Run For Your Lives' are bringing the two together.
从逍遥音乐节到游行活动到电影节，障碍赛跑和僵尸主题的活动已经像食肉菌一样在全美各地流传开来。现在，一系列名为"奔逃活命"（Run For Your Lives）的比赛把这两种游戏融为了一体。
Runners wade through pools of fake blood, duck under electrified wires and try to avoid letting zombies steal their 'health flags' worn on a belt around the waist. A runner with no flags left is ruled dead - or is it undead? - and isn't eligible for awards at the end of the five-kilometer race. Crossing the finish line alive is no small feat: Only about 20% of racers make it with at least one of their three flags left.
参赛选手要在人工血潭中涉水而过，钻电网，还要尽力避免僵尸偷去自己别在腰带上的"健康旗"。身上没有旗子剩下的选手就被判定为死亡──也许可以称其为不死一族了？──因此在五公里的赛跑结束时没有资格赢得奖品。能够活着在终点撞线可是个不小的成绩：只有20%的选手能够在最后还保留着三面旗子中的至少一面。
Mr. Smith had managed to hold on to his flags through several close encounters with zombies when he suddenly found his path blocked by a pair of female twins in checkered blue-and-white dresses, their faces bruised and heads cocked to one side. 'They looked sort of demented,' he said.
史密斯好几次与僵尸近距离遭遇，但他都设法保住了旗子。奔跑过程中，他突然发现路被一对身穿蓝白格子衣服的孪生姐妹拦住了，她们的脸又青又肿，脑袋歪向一边。他说，"她们看上去有点精神错乱。"
He dodged to the side and into a shin-deep creek to pass them, but lost his first flag to a grasping hand.
他闪到一边，?进齐小腿的河里，好从她们旁边掠过，但是还是有一只手伸过来抓走了一面旗子。
Zombies come up with their own outfits, but organizers do their makeup, including pale skin, sunken eyes and fake blood - a mix of corn syrup, cornstarch and food coloring - splashed on their clothes. Adhesive plastic molds and red goo give some zombies gaping wounds.
僵尸们都是自己携带装备，但是由组织者负责给他们化妆，装束包括苍白的皮肤、深陷的双眼和溅在衣服上的人造血液──用玉米糖浆、玉米粉和食物着色剂混合而成。有粘性的塑料模具和红色粘胶用来做成僵尸的伤口。
Zombies preparing for the race here lined up to stand in front of a hanging white sheet and have a makeup artist throw handfuls of blood on their backs and chests before they set out to populate a 70-acre course rigged with water pits, log barriers and monkey bars.
比赛筹备过程中，僵尸们在一块挂着的白布前站成一排，化妆师会在他们的背上和胸前洒上一把一把的血液，然后他们动身，分散部署在方圆70英亩赛场内的各个角落，赛场内到处是水坑、树障和攀吊架。
'That felt really good because it was hot out,' said Michael Packer, who drove 45 minutes from Indianapolis with his girlfriend and two other friends - all wearing surgical gear. 'It soaked through pretty well and it stayed wet for a long time.'
迈克尔•帕克（Michael Packer）和女友及另两个朋友从印第安纳波利斯开了45分钟的车赶来参加比赛──全都是一身外科医生的行头。他说，"这身行头感觉太好了，因为室外天气很热。这衣服吸水性很好，可以很长时间保持润湿。"
Reed Street Productions, a company based in White Marsh, Md., and formed by two friends in their 20s, is making a killing on the races. It held its first race just last year near Baltimore and unexpectedly drew 12,000 people, the company said. It will hold a total of 13 similar events in cities from Boston to Los Angeles this year. Next year, it hopes to double that. The company said it expects revenue of $18.8 million this year, but declined to disclose its profits. Between 3,000 and 10,000 people participate in the races, with about 5,000 at the event here.
由两名20出头的朋友共同组建、总部设在马里兰州怀特马什（White Marsh）的Reed Street Productions公司因为举办这种比赛大赚了一把。这家公司称，他们去年才在巴尔的摩附近举办了首次比赛，意外地吸引了12,000人前来参赛。今年，从波士顿到洛杉矶，他们要举办总共13场类似的比赛。明年，他们希望这个数字再翻一番。公司称，今年的收入可望达到1,880万美元，但利润是多少却拒绝透露。参加比赛的人数一般在3,000至10,000人之间，眼前这场比赛大约有5,000人参加。
'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，彷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。"
