We don’t typically cover cross country much here, but we’re going to make an exception today because HOLY SH*T, did you just see what happened in the video above? It was uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday by Eric Bologa, a former track and field athlete at Shippensburg University, and it shows a cross country runner getting destroyyyyyyyed by a stampeding deer in the middle of a race this past weekend.
In case you somehow missed it, here’s a better look at the collision:
Let’s take a look at it in slow-mo, too:
O.
M.
G.
And somehow, the story gets even better! The guy who got run over by a deer: A. Somehow is still alive, and B. Actually finished the race! His name is Justin DeLuzio, and he’s a member of the Gwynedd Mercy University cross country team. He was taking part in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional on Saturday when the deer collided with him about a mile into the course. His teammate Matt French witnessed it and stopped to help DeLuzio get back on his feet. And amazingly, despite being "very bruised up from the collision" (ya think?!), he went on to finish the race in just over 31 minutes with French running by his side.
DeLuzio didn’t win the race. Not even close. He came in 294th place and finished more than six minutes after the winner. But do you know what the winner’s name was? No. Because he didn’t survive a collision with a deer. So DeLuzio and his teammate are the real winners in our book.
