I'm calling BS on the story about the DII runner hiding in a tree to avoid a bear attack

Hey, let the poor girl have her 15 of fame. Only the narrative matters.

She likely got chased, but I’m with you. You can’t outrun a bear... and a bear would not chase you for 5 miles.

I mean, let’s crunch the numbers. Let’s assume she was running 7 min pace (no way, let alone through “heavy underbrush, bogs, marshes, and creeks”) that means she outran a momma bear for 35 minutes?

But also, why would someone make it up?

hyperbole wrote:

She likely got chased, but I’m with you. You can’t outrun a bear...

You don't have to outrun the bear...

hyperbole wrote:

But also, why would someone make it up?

Probably got lost in the woods and was too embarrassed to admit it.

Unconfirmed reports of bear wearing a red hat.

It's a great story. I like the part where she threw her bra at the bear. Too bad the helicopter was too far away to see her.

If I was flying the chopper I would have totally airlifted the bare-breasted runner away from the bear and saved the day, or night. That's how the story should have ended.

Agree. For one thing, a bear can run hella fast for a short burst. So if it was close to her, she's toast. But a bear cannot (and would not) run 5 miles.

Also, bears are awesome at climbing trees, so it it wanted her that badly it would have gone up and gotten her.

This whole story smells.

hyperbole wrote:

But also, why would someone make it up?

Umm...fame and sympathy. The perfect reward for the modern child.

Something in there is false for sure. She was chased by a bear for 5 miles? Not possible, bears can run over 30mph. It would have had her very quickly. It's not going to trot behind her for 5 miles.

What exactly happened I do not know. But that part of the story is not true.

I’ve been to Old Forge and wAs followed 3 miles by a bear

call me lamb chop wrote:

I’ve been to Old Forge and wAs followed 3 miles by a bear

Did you try throwing your jock strap at it?

Usually bears don't attack humans (unless they are extremely hungry), but if they see human running away their instinct kicks in which lead to attack. And as mentioned in the previous posts, bears can climb tree so it could have climbed the way up if it really wanted to.

I read the article and it didn't really mention that she was being chased by the bear for 5 miles after the encounter. If there was enough distance between her and the bear before she climbed up the tree, and the bear didn't have the urge to continue the attack, then I think it is possible.

When I initially read it, I didn't think much of it and accepted it at face value bue then I was intrigued by one of the comments in the RW story.https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a33850667/rachel-smith-spends-night-in-tree-to-escape-bear/

A RW reader wrote:

Did you verify any Garmin data before printing this story? It just seems unlikely that a sow bear would chase someone for 5 miles (which would almost certainly been her leaving the cubs behind?) and since black bears are extremely good tree climbers had it been aggressively chasing her as a food source, why did the sow not climb the tree?

I am not saying this didn't happen - crazy things happen all the time - but can you do any verification on this story?"

When I read that, I realized I kind of thought the same thing. Why would a mother bear chase a woman 5 miles? That makes ZERO sense.

I think there are enough hoax stories that someone is going to be skeptical.

I'm a wildlife biologist and smarter than all you dweebs put together. wigins, lol; has no right to post as a source of knowledge on on any subject whatsoever.

Indeed though, the story stretches credulity and something else was going on here. A half mile I can see, but a bear can run 35 miles an hour, at least for short distances, and probably 20 mph in the woods for several minutes at time. Faster than Rudisha or Bekele, for example. Black bears do switch from defensive aggressiveness (protecting cubs) to hunting, but a 5 mile chase? I'd say half mile.

Maybe she did encounter a bear with cubs. Freaked out, and ran into the woods, had a meltdown and hide up a tree.

Aldo Leopold wrote:

I'm a wildlife biologist and smarter than all you dweebs put together. wigins, lol; has no right to post as a source of knowledge on on any subject whatsoever.

Indeed though, the story stretches credulity and something else was going on here. A half mile I can see, but a bear can run 35 miles an hour, at least for short distances, and probably 20 mph in the woods for several minutes at time. Faster than Rudisha or Bekele, for example. Black bears do switch from defensive aggressiveness (protecting cubs) to hunting, but a 5 mile chase? I'd say half mile.

Maybe she did encounter a bear with cubs. Freaked out, and ran into the woods, had a meltdown and hide up a tree.

This is my thought

The real question is who gets the strava segment record. Its discriminatory not to give the bear a chance just because it can't afford a GPS enabled device.

If she had used the word 'followed' instead of 'chased' and claimed a few hundred yards instead of 5 miles the story may have rung true. But chased 5 miles....no way. To cut her some slack she may have told the story the way she perceived it and in her panic got it all wrong.

Use some common sense guys:

1) I think it's reasonable to doubt some of the details but you also have to consider what happens to one's perception of time and details during events like these. Usually people overestimate the numbers (how long, how far, etc.) which can muddy up the recounting of the story. So it's not out of the ordinary for the details to sound off.

2) Why on earth would you assume total BS if an entire town went searching and the runner was not found til morning in a disheveled state (to put it lightly)?