Teen Dies from Bear Mauling in Alaska Trail Race

Those poor parents. :(

With my wife and kids going hiking in Alaska next month, I was doing research about fatal bear attacks and found they are quite rare. No comfort to this family.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America

This is one of the reason why I hate running the trail in a Forest Preserve.

Now, I have never encountered a bear, but I have encountered deer on several occasions, and those encounters were very nervous encounters.

One may think of a deer as a harmless,friendly creature, but I beg to differ.

Just a week ago, I was doing a slow tempo run(7:15 per mile) down a trail. Everything was going well, until I instinctively looked behind me, and there was a deer chasing me. So I sped up. I looked behind me again, and the deer was still coming after me. So I sped up into another gear, and after that, the deer ran off into the bushes.

Now, the scary thing is, I don't know how long the deer was running behind me. All I know is that deer will attack you, especially during fawning season.

I prefer running in the streets,on baseball fields ( long grass runs), and on track surfaces. ..out in the open.

exthrower wrote:

Run with a decent dog...No problemo....

True. The bear will be full after it's eaten your dog, and it probably won't go after you.

exthrower wrote:

Bear attacks aren't rare...Fatal ones maybe....

Bear attacks are rare by any definition

Wow, men have seriously turned into pu$$ies. How much worse will it get?

Why is your tempo pace important in this story?

exthrower wrote:

Run with a decent dog...No problemo....

Actually isn't there some debate as to whether it is worse to run with a dog in bear territory?

I've had people advise me not to run with dogs with the premise being the dogs can startle a bear. But my thinking is I have a 70 lb dog and 65 lb dog and they'd both go crazy barking at a bear so I'd rather have them with me. Thoughts?

wejo wrote:

exthrower wrote:

Run with a decent dog...No problemo....

Actually isn't there some debate as to whether it is worse to run with a dog in bear territory?

I've had people advise me not to run with dogs with the premise being the dogs can startle a bear. But my thinking is I have a 70 lb dog and 65 lb dog and they'd both go crazy barking at a bear so I'd rather have them with me. Thoughts?

I believe having a dog or a small bell is a good idea while running in bear country.

I don't know all the details but here is my take, and this is after living in Alaska, most of the time semi remotely.

Likely a younger bear that doesn't have it own "territory" or wants more. The area this happened is close to a popular combat fishing river (Bird Creek) so more dense with bears as well. Probably habituated too. Like people, bears don't always act like they are supposed to, but this likely had one or more traits which contributed to being a "predatory" bear. Conventional wisdom is that you play dead when attacked by a bear. During a "defensive" attack this is true. During a "predatory" attack you're supposed to fight like hell. A person may not know or not have enough time to make a decision on what kind of attack is happening. It sucks, but the kid is texting instead of grabbing whatever he could to "fight" with. I know at least one of the Rangers involved so I may try to find out more

The other LRC thread.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8266633

*** I believe having a dog or a small bell is a good idea while running in bear country. ***

It's also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. For example, bear droppings often have little bells in them and smell like dogs.

wejo wrote:

exthrower wrote:

Run with a decent dog...No problemo....

Actually isn't there some debate as to whether it is worse to run with a dog in bear territory?

I've had people advise me not to run with dogs with the premise being the dogs can startle a bear. But my thinking is I have a 70 lb dog and 65 lb dog and they'd both go crazy barking at a bear so I'd rather have them with me. Thoughts?

It depends on the dog. Your dogs, especially having two relatively big ones, sound like they might be assets. I am safer with my dog. Last week, my dog detected a black bear ahead of me, hidden from my view behind a large rootstock, and chased it into the woods. This was less than a mile from my house (in Alaska). My previous dog of 15 years also provided advanced warning of numerous bears over the years. She didn't chase them. She would stop and you could tell she detected something.

The worry is that a dog gets chased by a bear and runs back to you with the bear in tow. A mama bear is likely to chase a dog off, but won't chase far, just enough to get the dog away from her cubs. In a situation like that, be aware the even if your dog isn't barking and is just looking, the mama bear will see your dogs as a threat, and might charge to keep them away. In that case, your dog's only escape route might be to run back towards you. It's predictable enough that, if you have good control over your dogs in a seeing-a-bear situation, and keep your distance, you'll be fine.

How likely is it to outrun a bear assuming you have 50 meters on it and are a 10.9 / 50 / 1:57 guy.

same thing wrote:

How likely is it to outrun a bear assuming you have 50 meters on it and are a 10.9 / 50 / 1:57 guy.

A bear won't be chasing you if you are 50 meters away. Unless it is the super rare lone black bear stalking you, like what happened this weekend. I'd be hesitant to run because it might induce a chase response. Bears can run 30 mph.

same thing wrote:

How likely is it to outrun a bear assuming you have 50 meters on it and are a 10.9 / 50 / 1:57 guy.

From Google: Never run from a bear: A bear can run 50 yards in 3 seconds, or up to 40 mph, faster than a race horse for short distances, and faster than any human, uphill or downhill. Running away will only encourage the bear to chase you.

The 50 meter head start probably matters, but honestly, if you saw the bear from 50m away, you should have turned around long ago...

thejeff wrote:

same thing wrote:

How likely is it to outrun a bear assuming you have 50 meters on it and are a 10.9 / 50 / 1:57 guy.

From Google: Never run from a bear: A bear can run 50 yards in 3 seconds, or up to 40 mph, faster than a race horse for short distances, and faster than any human, uphill or downhill. Running away will only encourage the bear to chase you.

The 50 meter head start probably matters, but honestly, if you saw the bear from 50m away, you should have turned around long ago...

Runners always think they can get away.

Overconfidence at work wrote:

thejeff wrote:

From Google: Never run from a bear: A bear can run 50 yards in 3 seconds, or up to 40 mph, faster than a race horse for short distances, and faster than any human, uphill or downhill. Running away will only encourage the bear to chase you.

The 50 meter head start probably matters, but honestly, if you saw the bear from 50m away, you should have turned around long ago...

Runners always think they can get away.

Sometimes they can. Often I first see a bear from a lot closer than 50 meters in a forest. I wouldn't run from a bear that's not chasing me, but if a bear is already on you tail, run. A UAA runner out-juked a chasing bear some years ago on a local trail and got away cleanly.

Overconfidence at work wrote:

Runners always think they can get away.

If I see a I bear I break off a branch, draws a circle on the ground with it, and place myself in the circle.

Never been harmed so far.