Runner meets grizzly: "This is going to hurt"

HOMER, Alaska — Mike Mungoven had two thoughts as he stumbled into a large grizzly on his morning run last Sunday.

"I looked up at this huge bear standing just two feet in front of me, the sun shining off its golden-brown fur," Mungoven said. "I remember thinking, 'Wow, that's just beautiful.' And then, 'Oh boy, this is going to hurt.' "

Mungoven was on his regular run, the same path he has taken every morning for several years.

"I always run with my dogs and remind them to be careful around this particular area because the forest there is more dense with black spruce," Mungoven said. "Next thing I knew, I heard some rustling in the woods and the bear was standing two feet in front of me."

Mungoven and the bear stared at each other momentarily, and then the bear reacted.

"The bear got me across the shoulder first, then took a couple more swipes at me," he said. "I went down and curled up into a fetal position."

It was a move that Mungoven had been taught many times, and possibly what saved his life.

"It really worked pretty well," he said. "I just played dead. The bear came back and bit me a couple more times and then left me alone."

Mungoven said he speculated that the bear was possibly a female protecting her cubs, as he thought he heard some mewing sounds coming from the woods behind her.

"I really think the bear actually showed quite a bit of kindness in the way she mauled me," Mungoven said.

"We have a potluck for Memorial Day in our neighborhood every year," he said. "Neighbors said they saw the bear across the field during the volleyball game Monday afternoon. I heard they were planning to have bear-kabobs later."

Mungoven said he was unsure the number of stitches he received during his 11 hours of surgery, but said he knew there were several puncture wounds that doctors had to cut open to clean out.

"The attack itself really wasn't very painful," Mungoven said.

"She missed my carotid artery and only got a few bites in. I guess I was lucky all the way around."

After hearing the bear disappear into the woods, Mungoven said, he called after his dogs several times.

"They were at the road, waiting for me to come out of the woods," he said. "They were just sitting there like, 'OK, when you're done playing with the bear, we'll be right here waiting for you.' "

Without a cellphone or transportation, and losing blood from his injuries, Mungoven hiked the more than 1,000 yards back to his house.