Bear spray stops brown bear attack on champion Alaska trail runner

Three-time Mount Marathon champion Klaire Rhodes, 28, was mauled by a brown bear on 13 August 2026 while running alone on the Wolverine Bowl trail in Chugach State Park. Rhodes deployed bear spray, halting the attack, then self-rescued to the Prospect Heights trailhead. Her worst injury: a deep puncture wound to her left hip. She titled her Instagram account of the ordeal "Bear spray works."