The Race Started at 7pm. At 4am, Tragedy Struck

The 55-year-old was racing up a Greek mountain at night when lightning hit
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 22, 2022 5:00 AM CDT
Updated Aug 27, 2022 4:45 PM CDT
Lightning Kills Runner 9 Hours Into Trail Race
Stock photo of trail runners at sunset.   (Getty Images / helivideo)

Lightning struck Sunday during a nighttime trail race up a Greek mountain, killing one runner and seriously injuring another, Greek police and the fire service reported. The two men were running in the Six Peaks race, which passes through the six highest peaks of Mount Falakro in northern Greece, when lightning struck a group of runners at 4am at an altitude of 4,400 feet, a police officer told the AP. Two fire service rescue squads came up the mountain from the nearby town of Drama to find one runner, 55, already dead and another, 56, seriously injured.

The injured runner was airlifted to a hospital in the city of Kavala, where authorities said he was in serious condition. Neither was identified. The 22.2-mile race had started at 7pm Saturday in the village of Pyrgoi, 2,066 feet up the slopes of the 7,323-foot mountain. Falakro’s six highest peaks in Greece are all over 6,562 feet high; the mountain extends into Bulgaria.

The weather was good when the race started but heavy rain developed during the night and the trail became muddy. By the time the lightning struck, several of the 55 runners taking part had reached the finish line at a mountain hut on top of the Falakro Ski Resort. Runners had 12 hours to complete the race. The race is one of five organized since 2018 by the Nevrokopi Hiking and Mountaineering Club, located in the nearby town of Kato Nevrokopi under the collective name Frozen Peaks. The three longest races—167, 64, and 28.6 miles—have been certified by the Switzerland-based International Trail Running Association.

(More trail running stories.)

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