33-Year-Old Ultrarunner Dies by Lightning Strike During 50K Trail Race in Kansas – Runner’s World
On September 28, Thomas Stanley was less than a quarter mile from the finish at the FlatRock 50K when a small storm hit with little notice. Before that, the day was hot and sunny as runners traversed the limestone rock formations, hardwood forests, and prairies on the Elk River Hiking Trail in Independence, Kansas.
Soon after the storm arrived, Stanley, 33, was struck by lightning and killed.
Nearby racers, including a doctor, attempted CPR while they waited for medical staff to arrive, and others in the crowd nearby got into their cars and picked up other runners to get out of the storm, race director Carolyn Robinson told Runner’s World. But Stanley was not able to be revived.
The race organizers included Stanley as , and presented a finisher’s award to his wife, Ashley, who is also a runner but wasn’t there that day: She was waiting to hear about the race at home with their three children: Charlotte, 6, Peter, 4, and Claire, 2.
“The strength and love in this community is what’s going to get us all through this devastating tragedy, and we will move forward together,” Robinson said. “An act of God can change everything in an instant, no matter what. It’s a reminder of how short and precious life is and that we should spend the time that we have with the people we love and doing the things we love.”
Reeling from the shock, friends and family immediately jumped into action to help Ashley by setting up a GoFundMe called “” to pay for funeral costs and additional expenses during the next year. As of Friday morning, more than 830 donors had given $77,344 toward the $100,000 goal.
“They were high school sweethearts, such an amazing team and so in love, and it’s heart-wrenching that she’ll have to move forward without her partner,” said friend Lauren Davis, who created the GoFundMe page.
A celebration of life will be held today at 1 p.m. at Christ Church in Wichita, Kansas. The family has asked for charitable donations to be made to the Stanley Children’s Fund at the Kansas Leadership Center, where he worked in Wichita.
Remembering Thomas
Stanley, of Wichita, worked as the director of business initiatives at the Center, where he developed and launched several leadership programs, wrote leadership workbooks, and taught leadership workshops around the state.
Stanley was known for his caring, thoughtful personality, as well as his tendency for practical jokes. A big fan of The Office, he pulled off pranks that made people laugh, such as mixing the company candy bowl with Skittles and M&Ms. During the company’s Secret Santa drawing one year, he pulled his own name and played along, leaving weird gifts for himself on his desk and complaining to staff about the horrible presents.
“Thomas spent his entire professional career with us, and I wish it had gone for 30 more years,” said president and CEO Ed O’Malley, who also noted that center is about Thomas and will create a book for his family.
Stanley had a booming guffaw that he reserved for the best jokes, even if they only made sense to himself, said Kevin Burkey, who became friends with Stanley in high school and was the best man at his wedding.
“He walked in faith from the day I met him at age 18 until 33,” Burkey said. “It was matter-of-fact with him, and our conversations were always driven by our personal lives and passions.”
When Stanley wasn’t joking, he was running: He ran cross country briefly in high school, but really got into it back in 2010, when he and Ashley—who ran in college—decided to train together for their first marathon, the Prairie Fire Marathon in Wichita
“My wife (Ashley) and I are both doing it for the first time,” Thomas told The Wichita Eagle in an . “It was a big goal, one of those bucket list things.”
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Back then, he attributed his inspiration to , the 2009 book that celebrated minimalist running. At age 23, Stanley thought if those athletes could run 150 miles, he could do 26.2.
After that, though, he wanted more. Stanley began training for ultras, and in October 2012, he completed his first 100-miler, the Heartland Spirit of the Prairie Trail Races in Flint Hills, Kansas. He finished in , which earned him 11th place.
“I look back on that memory fondly because I was getting married the next month in November, and we had this incredible conversation about marriage and how lucky he was to be married to Ashley,” says friend Ben Davis, 35, who paced Stanley through part of that first ultra. “He used running as a way to build friendships and community and loved to talk about the deep things and big questions of life.”
The next October, both Davis and Ashley helped Thomas pace his next ultra, the same Heartland race. He had set a goal of breaking 21 hours in it, and he crushed it—finishing in .
“Everything he did was bold and big. He didn’t just run 5Ks, he did ultramarathons. He didn’t just road trip, he traveled to Bolivia and New Zealand. He didn’t just love his wife, he was madly devoted to her,” O’Malley said. “He had hundreds of friends and connected with hundreds of people who truly felt like Thomas was one of their closest friends. I think the ultramarathon is a metaphor for his life.”