GORHAM – For a real Halloween scare, how about being chased by a pack of zombies?

That’s what will be happening in Gorham next week for those who dare to sign up for the Zombie Run – a 2.5-mile course crawling with obstacles like mud holes, spider webs and a slide through pumpkin guts.

For those feeling they don’t have a ghost of a chance, organizers say anyone can finish the course.

“It’s a tough event,” said Jesse Coleman of My-Fit-24 in Gorham, who organizes the event with his wife Stacey. “But anyone can do it.”

Coaches along the race path through the woods will offer guidance, but a horde of zombies will harass and attempt to scare adult runners.

“You are chased by zombies,” Stacey Coleman said. “The zombies will be fully costumed,” added Jesse Coleman.

The Zombie Run is on Saturday, Oct. 26, with a 9 a.m. start time for kids, who run a half-mile monster mash; and 10 a.m. for adults. The race starts and finishes at My-Fit-24, owned by the Colemans, 17 Railroad Ave., in Gorham.

Stacey Coleman said the event benefits a group called Maine P-PODS (Parents and Providers of Diabetics), whose mission is to provide families of diabetic children with support, community and programming.

Ronnie Tinkham of Gorham is running again this year, as are his wife and two boys.

“It’s such a good cause,” Tinkham said. “It was fun to do overall.”

The event already has attracted 100 entries and some 200 are expected. Last year, runners came from around New England and even New Jersey. Billed on the My-Fit-24 website as the “zombie apocalypse,” the Zombie Run is a family event.

Mariel Roy, a dance instructor at Centre of Movement in Gorham, returns this year to play a zombie. Roy said she became involved because the event looked like fun, but she didn’t sign up as a runner.

“I’d rather be a zombie,” Roy said.

Besides scaring adult runners during the race, zombies will try to tag runners, who then suffer penalties that Roy called “burpees.”

Stacey Coleman said tagged runners have to suffer the consequences.

“It gives you a little extra motivation,” she said.

The event is expected to attract a bevy of zombies.

A My-Fit-24 coach, Bill MacDonald of Gorham, described last year’s event as having “a lot of energy and a lot of mud.”

“It was pretty cool,” MacDonald said.

Danielle Babb, also a coach, helped direct traffic on the race path last year. Babb said no one was injured and runners were fighting for the lead.

Besides the zombies, many runners will wear costumes. Last year, a group of women dressed as superheroes; a coach, A.J. Didonato, wore a gorilla outfit. One runner was an Elvis impersonator.

The race will finish in a gruel of pumpkin guts mixed with dish soap and water. Tinkham said runners slide to the finish line.

Mariel Roy of Gorham readies for action this week as a zombie for the Zombie Runm Saturday, Oct. 26, in Gorham.