A professional runner outran 2 bears while training in Maine

YouTube/Sun Journal

AUBURN, Maine (AP) - A professional runner from Kenya who was out training on a nature trail in the woods near his home in Maine says he encountered two charging black bears but was able to outrun them during a frantic sprint to a nearby vacant house for cover.

Moninda Marube said when he saw the bears early Wednesday he had to think fast, and decided to do what he does best: run.

"In my head, I know I can't swim. I fear swimming. I fear water," he said to the Sun Journal, referring to a nearby lake he could've potentially ran to in his escape.

"Secondly, I knew I could not climb up a tree because bears can climb a tree," he said. "The only solution I had at that time was to be able to run."

He told the Sun Journal that the bears were 20 yards away from him and a vacant house was 20 yards away in the opposite direction. So he made a run for the house, with the bears closing to within 10 yards by the time he found safety on the house's screened porch.

The bears stopped, not realizing they could've easily crashed through the flimsy porch screens, Marube said. They sniffed around for a while before wandering away. Marube added that if the house had been just a bit further down the road the bears would've caught him. He went on to say, "It's not the house that helped me. It's God."

Wardens advise people who encounter black bears to make themselves appear big, make noise and back away slowly. But they recommend people stand their ground if a black bear charges and say if the bear attacks, then fight back.

Marube said he was aware that standing your ground was the suggested method of dealing with his situation, but that's easier said than done. "At that time, you cannot think standing your ground once they start running towards you."

He said he initially engaged in a stare-down with the bears but the bears charged the moment he turned his back on them.

Marube, a student at the University of Maine at Farmington who finished third in the 2012 Maine Marathon and won the 2013 half-marathon, said he'd once encountered a leopard perched in a tree while alone in Africa - but the bears were scarier.

He said he learned an important lesson from his close encounter with Maine's wildlife: "Just make peace with people. You never know when your day comes."

You can watch Marube share the story of the encounter below, courtesy of the Sun Journal.