There are a lot of things that can prevent you from winning a cross-country race -- you could suffer an injury, get severely exhausted or even, on rare occasions, collide with another runner.
However, there's one thing that runners don't generally plan for: Getting trucked by a deer in the middle of the race.
But that's exactly what happened to Justin DeLuzio, a runner for Gwynedd Mercy University, just over a mile into his final collegiate race.
DeLuzio was running along, probably enjoying the serene, blissful surroundings when suddenly there was some commotion.
A herd of deer came rushing toward the runners and then -- OH, DEER -- DeLuzio took a hit that would make office linebacker Terry Tate stand up and applaud.
Poor Justin. You can actually hear someone in the video trying to warn him about what's going to happen but, alas, it was all for naught.
I know what you're thinking -- how can you laugh at a kid who probably ended up in the hospital with broken ribs and severe internal injuries? Well, guess what? Dude got up and finished the race, so let the guilt-free laughter ensue.
According to Fox Sports, DeLuzio got a hand from teammate Matt French and completed the four remaining miles in the race.
"French, he's a senior like me," DeLuzio told Fox Sports. "It was his last cross-country race, too. And he sacrificed his potential best time of the season for me ... we have five guys on our team, and they were all there for me when this weird thing happened."
No, Justin. Finding a movie ticket in your pants pocket for a movie you don't remember seeing is weird. Getting annihilated by a deer during a cross-country race is downright unbelievable.
Good thing we have video evidence to enjoy for the rest of our lives.
