The apocalypse is coming. ..

The Park Apocalypse that is.

A new spooky event is planned on Oct. 19 at dusk at Grimes Farm Nature Center, sponsored by the Marshall County Conservation Board. The Park Apocalypse is a 5K Zombie run, where runners wear flag football belts and venture through the 5K course while trying to avoid having their brains, also known as the flags, stolen by zombies — volunteers — not real zombies.

This new event will be held in place of the Grimes Farm Fun Run which has been held in the past. It has the same goal in mind, which is to encourage people to get out and explore the county parks.

Included in the event is a meal and a free public viewing of “Ghostbusters” in the Leonard Grimes Amphitheater. All proceeds from the event and donations received will go toward trail improvement projects at Grimes Farm.

Emily Herring, Marshall County naturalist, said that between 70 and 80 people have signed up to be zombies and nearly 50 runners have registered to run. Volunteers are still needed to help with the meal and at the registration/check-in table.

Herring said that when registration deadline is officially over, runners can still sign up online on the Eventbrite site or by just showing up at the event. She added that the late entries will not be guaranteed eligible for medals or any of the swag items that will be awarded.

“We are really excited for this event and look forward to seeing people come and have fun with us,” Herring said.