3rd quarter. bear!

If ever you thought you were either mature or brave, I suggest you rethink that. I used to think that I was the ‘tough, manly’ type, and that I was afraid of nothing (except spiders, planes and babies), until tonight.

On the third leg of the relay you run around the hidden lakes behind Riverdale. The trail is more hilly and wild than the second leg of the relay but still manageable. It would have been quite a nice run had we not spotted a bear. There were five of us running together, luckily, I was mid-pack because I would have panicked had I been out front. As we rounded the corner on the bottom of a hill, we saw a grizzly bear chilling out, eating grass and what I imagined was him enjoying life. Trail running is tricky enough already; with so many roots and dips you have to spend most of the run looking at the trail directly below your feet leaving less time to enjoy the scenery or keep a look out for bears. Thankfully the man in the lead was looking up or we all could have run directly into the bear’s space and become a tasty snack. I can remember it as if it is still happening; he warned us like there was no big deal, or that it happens to him all the time. “Bear” followed by a few quick, quiet claps. Our run slowed to a walk and we all began to slowly clap our hands quietly and say “bear” over and over again. Luckily this scared the bear off quickly.

I can’t think of any feeling that best describes how I felt at that exact moment. They say when something scary happens to you your adrenaline kicks into overdrive - not on this girl. I was already tired and out of breath from the first few hills that I don’t think I would have made it too far had the bear actually chased me (I know you are not supposed to run). I was almost scared still; at the time turning back seemed like an excellent idea. For the rest of the run we chatted nervously amongst ourselves trying to joke about how our loud panting should scare anymore bears away from the area, and clapping our hands every few minutes. I decided this was the best time to practice my yodeling. My grandmother and I used to yodel together all the time. It is a Swedish thing, my whole family (except my dad) yodels. If any of you can run and yodel at the same time, you are my new hero.