Woman mauled by bear in Anchorage park

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- An Anchorage, Alaska, marathoner has lived to tell about her futile attempt to outrun a bear and its cubs on a city trail.

Clivia Feliz, 51, suffered a partially collapsed lung, a torn arm, and puncture marks on her head and neck, among other injuries from a Friday attack in the city's Far North Bicentennial Park. Authorities are searching for a 400-pound brown bear they believe was also involved in a June attack on a 15-year-old in the same area, reported the Anchorage Daily News Sunday.

"I'm lucky," Feliz said from her hospital bed at Providence Alaska Medical Center on Saturday. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have been on that trail."

The veteran runner had recently seen two black bears at her usual course in another Anchorage park and decided to try Bicentennial Park. Just 800 feet into the trail she sighted two bear cubs coming at her. Unable to shake them until her dog ran another direction, she soon came face-to-face with the mother bear. It bit into her rib cage, head and arms before leaving. Feliz was able to walk out and flag down a passing motorist.