This zombie apocalypse can help people stay fit

Did you see our stories about how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared important emergency preparedness messages using a Zombie apocalypse disaster scenario?

If you know people who are into gaming, or zombies, or just like to run, you’ll want to tell them about Zombies, Run!, an app available on Feb. 27 for Apple devices and in May for Android. The app’s Season One is $12.

Unlike many video games, which have players stuck in one place, this one gets them running. Zombies, Run! is a fitness app that gives a runner commands through head phones. During the run, the app tracks the runner’s distance, time, pace and calories burned.

A HealthlandTime.com article reports that Naomi Alderman, a British writer and gamer, was taking a class for amateur runners. Alderman says the idea for the game was born “when the instructor asked the class why they wanted to learn to run, [and] one woman said, ‘I want to be able to outrun the zombie horde.’”

Alderman worked with a London games studio, Six to Start, on the project, using a Kickstarter campaign to raise development funds. Though they aimed to raise $12,500, they pulled in $72,627, which made Zombies, RUN! “the biggest video game project on Kickstarter in 2011.”

This sounds like a fun way to get people up and moving. Do you know of other apps that combine gaming and fitness?