US news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-19 · by Ramon Antonio Vargas
An Alaska marathon athlete, Klaire Rhodes, 28, used bear spray to fend off an attacking brown bear while running alone on the Wolverine Bowl trail in Chugach state park on August 13. The attack injured her and left her with a deep puncture wound to her left hip and claw and teeth marks on her body. Rhodes has described the encounter as "a nightmare come to life", but expressed gratitude for coming out of it with relatively minor injuries. Biologists have posted warning signs at the trailhead, reminding visitors to carry deterrents such as bear spray in areas where bears are common, estimated to be hundreds of thousands strong in Alaska.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
An Alaska marathon athlete used a repellant spray to fend off an attacking bear that officials say injured her while she ran on a popular trail recently – an encounter that she has since described as “a nightmare come to life”.
asserted
she → use → life
The particularly harrowing episode unfolded on 13 August, when a woman who later identified herself online as marathon winner Klaire Rhodes, 28, was running alone on the Wolverine Bowl trail in Chugach state park, officials with Alaska’s fish and game department said.
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officials → unfold → department
A brown bear on the trail attacked and injured her, according to the agency.
uncertain
bear → attack → agency
She was equipped with bear spray and deployed the irritant on the animal to halt the attack – before “self-rescuing” to the Prospect Heights trailhead in the city of Anchorage.
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She → equip → Anchorage
The runner was then brought to a local hospital for treatment, officials said.
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officials → bring → treatment
Biologists interviewed her and went to the attack site to look for signs of the bear, but didn’t find any.
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Biologists → interview → any
They said they then posted warning signs at the trailhead while also reminding visitors to – among other things – carry deterrents such as bear spray.
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they → say → spray
Fish and game department officials didn’t name Rhodes in their statement on the incident.
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officials → name → incident
But on Sunday, she wrote in a social media post that she had been the attacked runner, adding: “I … feel incredibly fortunate that I came out of the situation with relatively minor injuries.”
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I → write → injuries
Rhodes said the “most severe” of those was “a deep puncture wound” to her left hip as well as “claw and teeth marks” on her body.
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severe → say → body
“At risk of sounding dramatic but being totally honest, the moment felt like a nightmare come to life,” the professional runner’s post continued.
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post → sound → life
“And yes, bear spray works.”
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spray → work → ?
Rhodes recounted how “running in the Chugach is where I feel most at home”.
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I → recount → home
Alluding to the bear whose path crossed with hers, she said: “It just so happens to also be someone else’s home, too, and despite all the precautions in the world, it’s just a risk to live life in the way we love.”
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we → allude → way
She also remarked, “The outcome was just about as good as it could have been, and I’m actually really proud of how I handled a completely terrifying situation.”
uncertain
I → remark → situation
Having won three consecutive Mount Marathon races, as reported by the Anchorage Daily News, Rhodes said she had been preparing to race in Europe “in less than two weeks”.
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she → win → weeks
She said she was unsure what the attack meant for her race preparations.
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attack → say → preparations
And she explained having mixed feelings about being able to get back to racing soon and simultaneously grappling with anxiety at the thought of again “running in the woods”.
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she → explain → woods
“Strange to feel overwhelmed with gratitude to be OK and knowing I probably have some intense trauma to work through,” Rhodes wrote.
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Rhodes → feel → trauma
Alaska wildlife officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of bears inhabit the state.
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thousands → estimate → state
They calculate that some areas may have one bear every square mile.
uncertain
areas → calculate → bear
The attack on Rhodes came roughly four months after a brown bear injured two US army soldiers in a mountainous training area at the Elmendorf-Richardson base in Anchorage.
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bear → come → Anchorage
A brown bear on 9 July then mauled a resident of the city of Kenai after climbing – with two cubs – over a fence into her front yard, Alaska’s public safety department reported.
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department → maul → yard
Nine days later, Anchorage police said, a bear attacked and injured a woman who was hiking with a friend and three dogs.
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who → say → friend
A study by the state of Alaska’s epidemiology section, meanwhile, counted at least 68 people who were hospitalized in connection with bear attacks during a 17-year period beginning in 2000.
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who → count → 2000
Neither authorities nor Rhodes provided specifics about the bear attack that victimized her.
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that → provide → her
Although she said she was grateful for an outpouring of moral support she had received as word of the attack spread, she said she refused to “rehash” its details online “because the internet is a weird place with a lot of unsolicited opinions”.
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internet → say → opinions
“I might share the full story another time, which I know will open a can of worms of opinions on what I did or didn’t do wrong,” Rhodes wrote.
uncertain
Rhodes → share → what
“But I’d rather be in control of the narrative instead of leaving the [social media] trolls to their speculation.”
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I → leave → speculation
