Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 116, March 2019 | Page 35

TRAIL RUNNING
WILD
Encounters
Trail Runners sometimes come face to face with wildlife, making for unforgettable experiences worth sharing with their
fellow runners. – BY KIM STEPHENS
O
n the 6th of February this year, a trail running story just about broke the
internet when a runner in the USA fought and killed an 80-pound mountain
lion that attacked him on a nature trail in the foothills of the Rocky
Mountains. Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the man was mauled by a
juvenile mountain lion as he was running. The man was bitten on his face and wrist,
but fought free from the lion, suffocating the animal with his hands in self-defence.
The story held all the elements of a dramatic documentary detailing the conflict
between man and beast, when man enters the natural habitat of wildlife. It also
had many of us questioning our choice of action when faced with a similar
scenario, so we asked the local trail community to share their wildlife encounters
with us.
A note of caution here: As trail runners, we may well be privileged to encounter
wildlife during our adventures. We should remain completely respectful of their
environments, and remember that the reaction of a wild animal, when startled by
a runner galloping in to their personal space, is unpredictable. We are there with
their kind permission, and not the other way around.
From a Sundowner Leopard to
Amorous Ostriches
By Kim van Kets
In 2011 Kim circumnavigated the whole of South Africa by running, biking and kayaking, and
had quite a few adventures along the way during her Tri the Beloved Country Expedition.
I was running with my mate, TJ, on the coastal section of my RSA border circumnavigation,
and we were approaching Cape Vidal in the late afternoon. We saw an animal sitting very
upright on the edge of the sea bush, gazing out towards the horizon. We stopped in our
tracks maybe 15 metres from it, and stared in astonishment at the leopard, unable to believe
our eyes. We gaped at it for a few seconds before it registered our presence, turned and in
one graceful, powerful, fluid motion leaped back into the undergrowth, leaving nothing but its
claw prints in the sand and its regal image indelibly printed in my memory bank.
I had always hoped I would see a leopard in the wild on a run one day, but I imagined it would
be in the Baviaanskloof or similar. I never imagined I would have my leopard encounter with
the cat having a sundowner and gazing out to sea on the Natal Coast!
It was around Arniston/Heidelberg on the same trip that I discovered
that ostriches are uncommonly drawn to me. There are ostrich
enclosures aplenty in this part of South Africa, large ones the size
of rugby fields. As I trotted along the fence, all the ostriches would
become very alert, stop their foraging or socialising, look at me with
obvious admiration, and immediately sprint over to the fence and
follow me along it until they could go no further. They would then
all begin to do their weird mating dances with frenzied enthusiasm,
begging me to stay (I think). As I disappeared over the horizon, they
would huddle in the corner, looking gloomy and bereft.
After the identical thing happened at every ostrich field over a period
of three or four days, it slowly dawned on me: I am completely
irresistible to ostriches! I couldn’t help being flattered! Worrying,
that... and indicative to some extent of my state of mind. So I was
devastated when a couple of months later my running mate, Laura,
told me that ostriches are aroused by the presence of people. All
people, she emphasised. So they did that dance thing for all the girls!
35