Deer Collision Knocks High School Runner Out of First Half Marathon
Cecelia DeWitt, a member of the Coldwater High School track team in Michigan, has a few running goals she wants to complete before college: After her junior year, she had planned on running her first half marathon, which would prepare her to go the full 26.2 after her senior year.
So she signed up for the Bayshore Half Marathon in Traverse City on May 25 to achieve the first part of it. Her dad, Joe, did the same, and helped her train in preparation for their big day.
Everything seemed to go accordingly to plan on race day until the DeWitts were about 3.5 miles in. That’s when they were met with a completely unexpected obstacle.
The runners had just passed an aid station, when Joe recalled hearing those around him yell, “Deer!” The animal immediately ran into him, kicking Cecelia in her thigh before running off the course.
“It knocked both of us down, but my initial thought was ‘Get up and go straight to her [Cecelia],’” Joe told Runner’s World.
Aside from some bruising, a few scratches from the deer’s hooves, and soreness from the hit, Joe and Cecelia didn’t suffer from any major injuries. Cecelia did have to receive a tetanus shot after the ordeal, though.
“We got really lucky. I’ve done a lot of trail races in the middle of the woods and never seen a deer come in front of us,” Joe said.
After the hit, both runners had to drop out of the race. With the help of volunteers, Cecelia was carried off the course, bruised and disappointed not to finish.
Four days after the collision with the deer, Cecelia actually competed for her high school track team in the Branch County Area Best Meet on May 29. Still sore from the kick, she managed to finish fourth in the 3200 meters. While her time of 14:50 was slower than the marks she usually hits, Cecelia said that she surprised herself given the unusual circumstances.
“I was a little nervous, I didn’t know how I was going to feel when I was running. I didn’t know if I was going to have a great race or a bad race,” she said. “I was glad that I did it though.”
Still determined to complete the 13.1-mile distance before her senior year, Cecelia reached out to Mercy Health Seaway Run race director Andrew Buikema to ask if she could switch her registration to run the half marathon instead of the 10K that she originally signed up for.
He granted her request, and shared the father and daughter’s story on the race’s Facebook page.
On June 22, Cecelia and Joe will toe the line in a second attempt to complete the half marathon distance, ideally without any interruptions from wildlife on the course.
“Hopefully it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Joe said.
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