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Run for your lives!

Zombie-themed Md. event joins undead craze with exercise

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The zombie pub crawl last October in Baltimore. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Majoros)

Earlier this year radio evangelist Harold Camping predicted that on May 21, three percent of the population would ascend to heaven and the rest of us would die a horrible death. Now he states that we have been given a five-month reprieve and the new date of destruction is Oct. 21.

So what will you be doing on Oct. 22? I have a full day planned and at some point in the afternoon, I will be running through the woods with zombies in hot pursuit of my warm flesh. Just a typical post-apocalyptic Saturday afternoon.

One of the things you learn from being an athlete is to set goals for yourself. Whenever I accomplish a sports goal, I immediately begin thinking about the next one. Last summer after a successful romp in Germany at the Gay Games with fellow athletes from Team D.C., I went online and signed up to compete in the Warrior Dash in Southern Pennsylvania.

Having the next goal in place gives me the motivation I need to stay in the gym and give my workouts some purpose. The Warrior Dash is a 3.5-mile obstacle course through the woods involving mud, fire, ropes, water and an assortment of other obstacles. Last year the Warrior Dash exploded all over the United States and, as is typical of a nationwide phenomenon, copycats also started popping up. After completing the Warrior Dash, on that warm October day, I rushed home to transform myself into a zombie.

With Halloween approaching, that night’s activities involved a zombie pub crawl in the streets of Baltimore. About 60 of us dressed as zombies staggered from bar to bar and even invaded the meat department at Safeway. For me, it was a perfect day. Around the same time, I discovered the AMC television series “The Walking Dead.” It’s about a group of people who survive a zombie apocalypse and their subsequent fight to stay alive amidst the constant threat of tireless zombies.

On the heart pumping suspense scale, the show rates a 10. Several years ago there was a reemergence of the vampire genre. They started showing up everywhere in films, television and novels. I found myself amused but not quite as excited about it as everyone else. I never made it through an entire “Twilight” movie and I have only seen a few episodes of “True Blood.” Unlike the vampires, the zombies’ revival has totally captured of my attention. “The Walking Dead” series ended in November and I wondered how I would fulfill my zombie lust until the series started back up in 11 months.

Thankfully, several of my co-workers were also hooked on the series, so all of our water cooler moments for the next several months were riddled with zombie talk. Even Brad Pitt has jumped on the bandwagon — he’s currently filming “World War Z” based on the novel by Max Brooks. In May, I competed in another Warrior Dash in Mechanicsville, Md. As we were walking out, covered from head to toe in mud, I was already wondering what event I was going to train for next. Someone handed me a flyer. Some genius had thought to combine zombies with a sporting event. I had died and gone to zombie heaven.

On Oct. 22, an event called Run for Your Lives will be contested in Darlington, Md. The competitors, wearing flag football belts, will navigate 12 obstacles throughout a 5K course in an attempt to make it to the finish line while avoiding zombies. You’re not just running against the clock, you’re running from brain-hungry, virus-spreading, bloody zombies. If the zombies grab all of your flags before the finish line, you are considered transformed.Of course there will be an apocalypse party after the chase with beer, music and warm “things” on the grill. A great opportunity to party like there is no tomorrow. Check out the details at runforyourlives.com.

 

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Books

A boy-meets-boy, family-mess story with heat

New book offers a stunning, satisfying love story

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(Book cover image courtesy of Random House)

‘When the Harvest Comes’
By Denne Michele Norris
c.2025, Random House
$28/304 pages

Happy is the bride the sun shines on.

Of all the clichés that exist about weddings, that’s the one that seems to make you smile the most. Just invoking good weather and bright sunshine feels like a cosmic blessing on the newlyweds and their future. It’s a happy omen for bride and groom or, as in the new book “When the Harvest Comes” by Denne Michele Norris, for groom and groom.

Davis Freeman never thought he could love or be loved like this.

He was wildly, wholeheartedly, mind-and-soul smitten with Everett Caldwell, and life was everything that Davis ever wanted. He was a successful symphony musician in New York. They had an apartment they enjoyed and friends they cherished. Now it was their wedding day, a day Davis had planned with the man he adored, the details almost down to the stitches in their attire. He’d even purchased a gorgeous wedding gown that he’d never risk wearing.

He knew that Everett’s family loved him a lot, but Davis didn’t dare tickle the fates with a white dress on their big day. Everett’s dad, just like Davis’s own father, had considerable reservations about his son marrying another man – although Everett’s father seemed to have come to terms with his son’s bisexuality. Davis’s father, whom Davis called the Reverend, never would. Years ago, father and son had a falling-out that destroyed any chance of peace between Davis and his dad; in fact, the door slammed shut to any reconciliation.

But Davis tried not to think about that. Not on his wedding day. Not, unbeknownst to him, as the Reverend was rushing toward the wedding venue, uninvited but not unrepentant. Not when there was an accident and the Reverend was killed, miles away and during the nuptials.

Davis didn’t know that, of course, as he was marrying the love of his life. Neither did Everett, who had familial problems of his own, including homophobic family members who tried (but failed) to pretend otherwise.

Happy is the groom the sun shines on. But when the storm comes, it can be impossible to remain sunny.

What can be said about “When the Harvest Comes?” It’s a romance with a bit of ghost-pepper-like heat that’s not there for the mere sake of titillation. It’s filled with drama, intrigue, hate, characters you want to just slap, and some in bad need of a hug.

In short, this book is quite stunning.

Author Denne Michele Norris offers a love story that’s everything you want in this genre, including partners you genuinely want to get to know, in situations that are real. This is done by putting readers inside the characters’ minds, letting Davis and Everett themselves explain why they acted as they did, mistakes and all. Don’t be surprised if you have to read the last few pages twice to best enjoy how things end. You won’t be sorry.

If you want a complicated, boy-meets-boy, family-mess kind of book with occasional heat, “When the Harvest Comes” is your book. Truly, this novel shines.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

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Photos

PHOTOS: Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch

LGBTQ politicians gather for annual event

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Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) speaks at the 2025 Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Victory Fund held its National Champagne Brunch at the Ritz-Carlton on Sunday, April 27. Speakers included Tim Gunn, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Gov. Wes Moore (D-Md.), Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.).

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Music & Concerts

Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’

Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

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Singer Tom Goss is back. (Photo by Dusti Cunningham)

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co. 

Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.

For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

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