Halloween spirits were high at Saturday’s Green Island School Zombie Fun Run.
Years 1 to 8 pupils navigated a tyre run, cargo nets, maze, graveyard, foam and a slip ’n’ slide to escape their zombie pursuers.
Green Island School board member Disa Walker said the school had devised a back story for the run: a group of scientists investigated after spiders on the school’s field were exposed to toxic waste, but were zombified in a big explosion at the site.
Beneath the lab coats and makeup, the zombies were performed by the school’s year 7 and 8 pupils.
The pupils were given drama lessons on how to embody their character, as well as a few practices to introduce the younger children to the zombies.
She said the zombie run, while a day of lighthearted fun, taught pupils similar lessons to that in the school’s outdoor education programme as they were given the choice about how to elude their zombified peers.
"What’s scary for some people is a different level for others," she said.
"We’re trying to let children have lots of opportunities for feeling fear and making choices for themselves."
While the outbreak was contained to Green Island School, the pupils were joined by others from various Dunedin schools.
Queen’s High School pupil Nature Patangata said her favourite part of the run was the foam machine.
Green Island principal Aaron Warrington said the zombie run not only acted
as a fundraiser for the refurbishment of the school’s library, but was a chance for the community to connect, particularly its pupils.
The run provided opportunities for pastoral care and for years 7 and 8 pupils to act as older siblings to the younger children, he said.
This was the first year Green Island School had hosted the zombie run.
It had sold 170 tickets and hoped to continue it annually, Mr Warrington said.
tim.scott@odt.co.nz , PIJF cadet reporter
