As many of you know, last year was my very first SDCC. As such, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. The entire week was insane (especially that Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed party), but one of my biggest regrets was missing out on The Walking Dead Escape event.
I walked by Petco Park countless times during that week, and every time I was wowed by the post-apocalyptic obstacle course inside. It looked absolutely incredible (especially for me, who lives in a small, boring town in Canada), and it’s an event that I mention when talking about last year’s convention to this day.
After its successful 2012 debut at San Diego’s Petco Park, The Walking Dead Escape expanded with three additional events in major cities in 2013, including New York, where the course was integrated aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Intrepid. Based on fans’ enthusiastic response, Skybound decided to take the events to the next level with a national tour.
This year, I had the awesome opportunity to run through the course. Those of you familiar with Escape will notice that the story has changed from previous years, meaning a lot of the repeat runners that I was surrounded by were pleasantly surprised by the ending. As you can see in the beginning of the embedded video, I strapped a GoPro on my head and planned to share the direct footage from my point of view… but the battery didn’t hold its charge in the week since I had plugged it in, and it died almost immediately. Instead, I tried to strap my ever-trusty iPhone to my head, which definitely wasn’t going to work, before I finally just held the damned thing to attain the footage that you see below.
I had an absolute blast at The Walking Dead Escape, and even walked away from the event with an exclusive The Walking Dead #1 variant just for runners. The event was creepy and very well put together, though I’d recommend running as late as possible to maximize the effect. There are plenty of breaks for story sections and for water, so even if you’re out of shape, you shouldn’t overlook this experience.
Take a look at my run-through below, and be sure to let us know what you think!