Zombies take over Ghent

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - It was a frightening experience in Norfolk Friday as zombies descended upon the historic area of Ghent for a community-wide zombie themed game of tag called "Survive Norfolk."

Thousands took part in the event, in which they had to outmaneuver their opponents in the most chilling race of their life.

"I never would have thought it would have morphed into thousands of people wanting to play. It's wonderful," said event organizer Whitney Metzger.

Norfolk Police were at the event, along with nine off-duty police officers just in case things got out of hand.

Colonial Avenue between 21st Street and Spotswood Avenue were closed from 6 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. to accommodate the large crowd.

Participants had 2.5 hours to make it from start to finish. There were four checkpoints along the way that each participant had to stop at before moving on to the next, all while zombies chased them down. If a participant got tagged by a zombie at any time during the race, they too became zombies. As the race dwindled down to its final moments, hundreds upon hundreds of zombies were out to get the last few participants lucky enough to still be in the game.

Metzger said it's part tag, part foot race and part zombie apocalypse. Almost 20,000 people contacted Metzger via Facebook, wanting to participate in the zombie chase.

"We had to get permits, we had to get insurance, I had to make my group into an LLC," said Metzger.

The race began at the corner of Colonial Avenue and 20th Street in Ghent on Friday, October 22 at 8:30 p.m. and ended at midnight.

All proceeds from the race benefit local charities like Hope House Foundation, D'Art Center and the Hermitage Museum and Gardens.

Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. have hosted similar events.

For more information visit Survive Norfolk's Facebook page .