Rocky terrain and thousands of feet of elevation were the least of Adam Campbell's worries Friday evening.
A runner tells of how he was hit by lighting during an endurance run.
"There's nothing up there, no place to hide, no rocks, no trees, nothing," Campbell told Metzler. "We really didn't have much of a choice. We wanted to get over the peak as soon as we could and get out of there."
Another sheet of lightning fell on the exposed peak as the men attempted to cross. The blast sent them to the ground and took out Campbell's headlamp, but otherwise left both men unharmed. Campbell carried on, finishing the rest of what Metzler writes is one of the hardest trail races in America:
Campbell, a Calgary-based attorney, crossed the finish line with a time of 25 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. His performance earned him a third-place finish and a beer, the latter of which he sipped and poured on his head.
"Wow, that was a hard race," Campbell said. "That course is legit—even without the lightning."
Understatement of the year? Probably.
Distance runners have a reputation for modesty, but Campbell might've broken the mold with his cool. Never have the words "We got struck by lightning" been said more matter-of-factly.
Just another day running hundreds of miles in the mountains, I guess.