I got caught in a storm running yesterday. What made me go hide wasn’t the rain but the lightnening… It was BAD. How safe is it to run when it’s lightening? I went under a car port, waited 1/2 hour until I called my receptionist to pick me up. Am I a chicken or isn’t it not safe to run with bad lightening?
Just don’t be the high point… and if you are, then carry a one iron, even God can’t hit a one iron.
If the lightening was BAD as you said, then you probably made a good choice. We all take risks every day driving in cars and riding our bikes. It is up to you to decide how many risks to expose yourself to. If the storm wasn’t too crazy, I’d probably keep running- fully knowing that I was endangering myself. It all depends on the person and the situation.
You’ve made the right decision, running in lightning, especially in an open field, can be very dangerous.
If it was lightening, then that was just the sun coming up.
If it was lightning, then you should not run in your bare feet.
In the future, some things you can do to minimize your chances of being hit:
Only a problem when your feet are on the ground, so take really big, quick strides.
Bend over at the waist and make sudden zig-zag type turns while you are running, it makes you harder to hit. This also works if someone is shooting at you.
Wear a swim cap. Double up for even more protection.
I’ve been told taking off your shirt minimizes your chance of getting hit (by lightning, anyway.)
Next time it’s worth a shot.
I’ve been told taking off your shirt minimizes your chance of getting hit (by lightning, anyway.)
Next time it’s worth a shot.
I ALWAYS run with my shirt off:-)
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Hey, me too…though I think it’s a little different when I do it.
Ask Michael Jackson. He has been lightening for years. As for running in lightning–don’t do it.
Unless you are tougher than a lightning bolt, you are not being a chicken by not running in a thunderstorm.
Great thread
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Lightning can be very dangerous…I have had my wife come get me on a couple of occassions during rides when a storm moved in quickly that I hadn’t counted on, and I have personally known one person who has been killed by lightning.
Spot
Always my favorite runs. I survive each time unscathed—by mocking it, raising my hands up in the air, desiring it to strike me. In fact, I run toward the lightening and out into the open, pleading with it to strike me, giving it every chance I can to strike me down and burn me to a crisp.
So far, no luck.
ok… I am not masochist like that!!! I think I will stay away from it. Doesn’t beat the time in iowa (wide open field)where I was cycling in lightening with the tornado sirenes going off. talk about adrenaline…
that must have been scary. I think it is ok to ride when it is lightening, but I avoid riding when it is darkening.
I just run faster than lightening.
Best run I ever did was in a storm like that - a straight out and back up a hill near my old house. Very steep and it used to take about 35-36 mins to get to the top and 23 back down. Anyway this one day I got to the top and the heavens opened. It was two in the afternoon but very dark but as the rain came down I just took off down the hill and started imagining that instead of a soggy Englishman running in the rain I was starring in some Nike./Adidas advert with a gravelly voiceover and cool camera angles.
I was about halfway down when God clearly had the same thought and sent a bolt of lightning that hit a tree fifty yards away and set it instantly ablaze. I was so shocked I din’t even stop but I knew how close it had been even the air tasted weird. Really really inspiring stuff.
Carry a 1 iron with you. when there is lightning, runn around holding that 1 iron in the air. As Lee Trevino pointed out years ago, this works because ‘even God can’t hit a 1 iron.’
Not safe. I always laugh when people complain about sharks in the ocean but run and ride in a lightning storm.
http://www.lightningsafety.com/
Number of Lightning Deaths in the United States, 1990 to 2003 - 756
And you should read about the after effects of being electrocuted. Your wiring is not rated for that voltage/amperage. Surviving a lightning strike does not mean you walk away good as new.
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lls/deaths_injuries01.html