Dallas Marathoner Narrowly Escapes Massive Tree Falling on His Car During Cooldown – runnersworld.com

• Dallas marathoner Alfonzo Gonzalez Jr. witnessed a rogue tree fall and crush his new car just moments after he retrieved a sports drink from it.
• The runner, who was cooling down after a 14-miler when the tree fell, escaped with just a few cuts and bruises, but no major injuries.

Around 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, Alfonzo Gonzalez Jr. and a few of his training buddies gathered in a shaded parking lot outside of the White Rock Lake trail in Dallas to cool off after their 14-mile long run. The runners—mostly members of local clubs including the Nomad Running Society, Track Tuesday Tempo Thursday, and StarKnox run group—were discussing where to go for breakfast as they finished up stretching.

While his companions chatted, Gonzalez jogged over to his car to get a sip of Powerade, since he hadn’t had anything to drink since before the run. Leaving his driver’s side door open, the 39-year-old grabbed the bottle and stood outside to drink. In retrospect, he is extremely glad that he didn’t hop into the car, he told Runner’s World.

“I took a sip of Powerade, then I started hearing wood cracking behind me,” he said. “It sounded like someone was playing in the woods, or maybe a dog was running around. Then it started to get louder and louder. I looked behind me, and this massive tree was falling towards me.”

Gonzalez instantly flung himself away from the car, but he didn’t fully escape the branches crashing down around him; one caught him right below his right knee and trapped him to the ground. Meanwhile, his car—which he had just purchased two weeks ago—was crushed beyond repair.

“I was really fortunate I wasn’t inside the car when the tree fell,” he said.

At first, the runner was afraid he had broken his leg, but several X-rays taken at the hospital following the accident revealed that nothing was fractured. To recover from the scrapes and swelling caused by the blunt trauma to his knee, Gonzalez was advised to take two weeks fully off from running, then just run one mile a day on the third week, letting pain be his guide.

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“The time off will be really tough. I already want to run a few yards, just to see how it feels,” Gonzales said. “I’ve dealt with Achilles injuries in the past, but never something like this.”

The Dallas native started running in 2009, and has completed more than 10 marathons over the past decade, including this year’s Boston Marathon, which he finished in 2:44:12. Unfortunately, the timing of the accident means that the runner will have to readjust his training schedule for next January’s Houston Marathon, which he was planning to start preparing for in late August. He said that in the meantime, he might try boxing or other cross-training activities to get sweaty without the extra impact on his knee.

And when he does start running, he might stick to the roads for awhile.

“Trees never just fall like this,” he said. “We had a big storm back in June, so that must have been what caused it. I’m both unlucky and really lucky to be here.”

Digital Editor Hailey first got hooked on running news as an intern with Running Times, and now she reports on elite runners and cyclists, feel-good stories, and training pieces for Runner’s World and Bicycling magazines.