Vancouver ultramarathoner Adam Campbell gets thrown by lightning...

Vancouver ultramarathoner Adam Campbell gets thrown by lightning, finishes race in third place

More than halfway through a gruelling 100-mile mountain marathon, Vancouver lawyer Adam Campbell was knocked off his feet by lightning.

Then, not only did he get up and keep running — he also finished third.

Last Friday, the 35-year-old was going strong as he reached mile 56 of the Hardrock 100, an ultramarathon in Colorado's San Juan mountain range that is known as one of the world's most punishing runs.

It was at that point that he found himself going up a ridge toward Handies Peak, which is, at 4,285 m​ (or 14,058 ft)​, the race's highest elevation point.

"There's something fun about getting to the high point in a race, you can tell yourself, 'oh, it's all downhill from here,' even though it's 12 hours of downhill," he told CBC Radio One's Rick Cluff of The Early Edition.

"I was already starting to get tired, obviously. I'd been running for 14 hours."

As the sun set, a storm started to roll in.

Campbell could see that it was an electrical storm that was brewing.

There was no shelter — it was well above the treeline, and there were no big rock outcroppings — so Campbell was fully exposed to the elements.

Then, as he came within 200 meters of the summit, a bolt of lightning struck the peak.

"It was terrifying," he said. "It looked like this tentacle of light bathing the summit."

Campbell's friend, ultramarathoner Aaron Heidt, was with him through this leg of the course for safety.

As there was nowhere to shelter themselves, Campbell decided their best option was to keep moving.

They both went flying when the next bolt struck.

"The moment we hit the summit, it was like a gunshot went off right by my ear — this incredibly white flash of light — and the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground," he said.

Campbell says the two knew instantly what had happened.

"You could just hear this crackling electrical sound all around us," he said.

Heidt and Campbell checked each other for injuries, and luckily neither was wounded.

WOW!! The guy gets thrown by lightning and decided to finish the race despite the near hit and ends up finishing in 3rd. If that is endurance I don't know what is.

Good thing it wasn't a direct hit. Not everyone is fortunate enough to survive being struck by lightning.

Cool story. I've not been watching local news since the plane crash
Thanks for sharing

Its cuz he's a Canuck. Feckin trooper. Like all Canucks

Yeah when you get hit by lightning you always fall.

Saw a video of a man who got struck (direct hit). He collapsed full speed onto the grown (he was running). He all dazed and after a few seconds he gets up and continues on. About a few steps later BOOM! He get's struck a SECOND time (direct hit). He get's up and sits there for a moment before getting up and walking again

Honestly I think lightning strikes have different voltage. Not all strikes are lethal.

originally posted by: violet
Cool story. I've not been watching local news since the plane crash
Thanks for sharing

I don't watch the news at all & I don't have a tv.
I only found out about this because I was looking up forest fires

originally posted by: Kuroodo
Yeah when you get hit by lightning you always fall.

Saw a video of a man who got struck (direct hit). He collapsed full speed onto the grown (he was running). He all dazed and after a few seconds he gets up and continues on. About a few steps later BOOM! He get's struck a SECOND time (direct hit). He get's up and sits there for a moment before getting up and walking again

Honestly I think lightning strikes have different voltage. Not all strikes are lethal.

In this case, it wasn't a direct hit.

Not all strikes are lethal because it depends on if the person has sweat on their skin and how much rubber they have on their shoes, among other things.