Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Aug 19

Alaska Runner Klaire Rhodes Fends Off Brown Bear With Spray After Aug. 13 Trail Attack

Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Aug 19

Alaska Runner Klaire Rhodes Fends Off Brown Bear With Spray After Aug. 13 Trail Attack

Q: Could a terrifying bear attack derail an elite runner's international championship dreams just weeks before the starting line?

Yes — it could disrupt Klaire Rhodes’ immediate build-up, but the evidence so far suggests it may not end her championship hopes. Rhodes, 28, said the brown bear attack on Anchorage’s Wolverine Bowl trail left her with “relatively minor injuries,” including a deep puncture wound to her left hip and claw and teeth marks. She was able to use bear spray, get back to the Prospect Heights trailhead on her own, and reach a hospital for treatment. That points to a serious incident, but not the kind of catastrophic trauma that would automatically rule out future racing. The bigger threat is timing. Rhodes said she had been preparing for a race in Europe in less than two weeks, with the CCC in Chamonix, France, among the events tied to her schedule. For an elite mountain runner, losing a peak training week and managing pain, wound healing, inflammation, and infection risk this close to competition can materially affect readiness even if the injuries are not severe. At the same time, Rhodes indicated she expects to be back relatively soon, suggesting optimism about recovery. Her recent form also matters: she is a top Alaska trail athlete, a three-time Mount Marathon winner, and had been racing well this season. So the attack could derail her final preparations and possibly compromise performance or participation in the short term. But based on her own account and the reported injuries, it does not yet appear to have definitively ended her international ambitions.

Q: Biologists collected samples from the bloody attack site, but what will happen if they finally track down the elusive predator?

If Alaska biologists eventually identify and find the bear, its fate will depend on what the investigation shows about the attack. In cases like this, wildlife managers typically try to determine whether the bear acted defensively after being surprised or whether it showed predatory or unusually aggressive behavior. The samples collected at the bloody scene — such as hair, saliva, blood or scat — can help biologists use DNA to confirm which bear was involved. If the animal is located, officials would likely compare that evidence, assess its behavior, and look for signs such as whether it stayed in the area, returned to the site, or appeared food-conditioned or otherwise dangerous. If investigators determine it was a defensive encounter — the kind Alaska officials often describe when a bear is startled on a brushy trail — the bear may not be killed. That is consistent with other recent Alaska cases in which Fish and Game collected evidence but did not actively pursue a bear believed to have reacted defensively and then retreated. If, however, the bear is confirmed as the attacker and is judged to pose an ongoing public-safety risk because of repeated aggression, abnormal behavior or predatory conduct, officials could decide to capture or euthanize it. For now, Alaska Fish and Game has posted warnings, urged people to carry bear spray, and asked the public to report any bear acting aggressively or unusually.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 19

Klaire Rhodes, 28, said she escaped with relatively minor injuries after a brown bear attacked her on Aug. 13 while she was running alone on the Wolverine Bowl trail in Chugach State Park.
Bear spray stopped the attack, allowing Rhodes to self-rescue to the Prospect Heights trailhead in Anchorage before she was taken to a local hospital; she later described a deep puncture wound to her left hip and claw and teeth marks.
Alaska fish and game biologists searched the site but found no sign of the bear, then posted warning signs and reminded trail users to carry deterrents such as bear spray.
Rhodes, a three-time Mount Marathon winner, said the attack could disrupt a planned race in Europe in less than two weeks and has left her weighing a return to racing against anxiety about running in the woods.
The encounter adds to a string of recent Alaska bear attacks, including injuries to two soldiers in April, a Kenai resident on July 9 and an Anchorage hiker nine days later.