The morning's gray sky only added to the spooky ambience of the Halloween-themed 5K benefit on Saturday.

Fog settled in over the 3-mile courseof the Adventure Race's second Zombie Run or Rot Challenge at Country Junction in Lehighton.Race director Jacob Martinez began by leading the potential victims to a gate that hid the first heart-pumping zombie obstacle.Martinez gave instructions as the groans of the hungry undead grew louder. He pulled back the gate and let the challengers scramble their way onto the course.Waves of 10 people at a time were released every five minutes starting at 9 a.m.Humans had to manage a steep hill under crackling power lines, crawl or hop over thick spider webs, cross high monkey bars and dodge the cold hands of undead looking to rip away the three "vital organ" flags.The Dedicated Fitness group of the Palmerton gym wore red team shirts with the words, "Run like a zombie is chasing you," printed on the back.The group ran the race the prior year."We're just trying to survive and end with at least one flag," Christine Amorim said.According to Martinez, the most challenging obstacles were the zombie zones laced throughout the track."You have to sprint and dodge them," he said.About 150 runners registered to dodge and sprint past the 40-plus zombies.Volunteers sold $2 Jell-O "brains" to throw at the zombies.Teagan Angell of Effort said the last dash through the Waldorf Estate of Fear Hotel was the hardest."The haunted house was creepy. There were a lot of zombies," she said. Angell escaped with all three of her vital organs attached to her belt. "I never did a 5K before and I kept all my flags."Not all challengers were as lucky. Oneyoung girl emerged without a single flag and scared out of her wits.The key to being a good zombie is to draw fear, according to longtime Waldorf actor Eric Rodriguez."You have to go into creep mode, be lethargic and then boom!" he said.Makeup artist Michayla Doherty worked to get the shading just right on Rodriguez."The key is the shading and the blood," she said.The event benefitted the Justin's Fight charity, started for 5-year-old Justin who had a rare form of brain cancer.