A California ultra-runner was attacked by a bear while finishing up a 50-mile run through Yosemite Valley over the weekend.
Jon-Kyle Mohr was less than a mile away from a triumphant finish to his lengthy sprint Sunday night when he collided with the large, adult black bear, he told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.
The 33-year-old had headed out from his home in June Lake over the Sierra Nevada and down into the Yosemite Valley — an impressive 50-mile dash he had been planning for years, he told the outlet.
But as he was approaching the finish line, Mohr saw a huge black shape in the darkness charging at him.
He said he felt “some sharpness” on his shoulder before he was forcefully flung into the dark.
Next thing he knew, people were gathered about 100 feet away shining their headlamps in his direction and shouting, “Bear!”
The collision sent a stolen bag of garbage flying from the animal’s mouth — potentially angering it, Mohr told the Times. Before he knew it, “it was coming back at me,” he said.
Mohr started yelling and slapping his running poles against the pavement, as horrified onlookers shouted and banged pots and pans, and were ultimately able to send the bear running.
The accomplished runner was left with torn clothes and a few scratches, but no serious injuries.
The collision, which happened near the popular Vernal Falls trailhead, occurred just seven-tenths of a mile from Mohr’s finish, he told the paper.
“If it seriously wanted to inflict any kind of actual harm, it totally could have,” he told the newspaper, adding that one of the rangers who responded to the incident said he’d been in the park for decades and had never seen a seemingly accidental collision like this.
While an ambulance arrived and medics bandaged his wounds, Mohr declined transportation to the hospital.
Park rangers later told Mohr they had located the bear, which had been tranquilized earlier Sunday and fitted with a tracking collar. Park rangers did not share what prompted the action, Mohr told the paper.
“It sounds like the bear and I had equally crazy days,” he said.
Mohr had started his run 15 hours and 59 minutes before the scary incident, according to his watch.
“It was just a really strange, random collision,” he told the Times. “If I had rested my feet for 20 seconds longer at any point over the 16 hours, it wouldn’t have happened.”
There have been 10 bear “incidents” this year in Yosemite, down 9% from last year, when there were 38 incidents in total, according to the park’s website.
Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman told the Times he had not received clearance to talk about what happened to Mohr.