Grande Prairie runners fend off 3 grizzlies on Canadian Death Race trail

As the grizzly bear loomed over his running partner, something clicked in Phil Troyer's mind.

"That's when I realizedit wasn't a matter of chasing the bears away, it was a matter of surviving," he said.

"I was scaredbut there was such a calm even in all the commotion."

Itwasn't a matter of chasing the bears away, it was a matter of surviving.- Phil Troyer

Herecounted the story toCBCNews on Wednesday, in a voice still raw from shouting and inhaling bear spray.

Troyer encountered the grizzly and its two cubs on a trail near Grande Cache, Alta., on June 30. He wastraining for the Canadian Death Race with a group of runners from Grande Prairie.

The gruelling 125-kilometre ultra-marathon cuts through mountainousterrain near Grande Cache, a town about 430 km west of Edmonton.

Troyerand another runner, LisaLauzon, had outstripped their training group and were hiking up a rocky path used for the race when they heardshuffling in a thicket of alder bushes to their left.

Within seconds,Troyersaid he saw the distinctive brown head of a grizzly bear rise from the alders about six metres away.

He barely had time to unhook the safety lockon his can of bear spray before the animal charged.

When the grizzly was less than a metre away,Troyerfired a blast of spray at its face. The animal veered around the two runners, then circled back.

At that moment, two cubs emerged from the bushes, trappingTroyerandLauzonbetween the mother and her offspring.

Troyer, who grew up hunting in the Yukon wilderness with his father, said he knew right away they had stumbled into a deadly situation.

"From there it was just chaos," he said. "Just bears coming at us. They started running around us."

In the scuffle,Lauzonwas knocked off the trail onto her back. The mother grizzly lumbered toward her.

Troyer said he watched in horror as the mother bear advanced.The animal was growling and grunting in a way he had only heard in movies.

"I still hear that sound sometimes, and it bothers me."

Hisbear spray was almost empty and he doubted the stream was potent enough to deter the grizzly.

"It was the last option I had, so Ijust leaned over as far as I could,"Troyersaid.

"Everything just seemed to slow down and I remember thinking to myself, 'This has gone on long enough. What are we going to do now? How are we going to get away?"

The orange mist shot toward the bear, settling in a cloud around its face. The animal reared and turned towardTroyer, who stumbled backward onto the path.

"Mypepper spraywas done, there was nothing left in it," he said.

He threw asidethe can and swung at the grizzly's head with his hiking pole. The carbon shaft snapped on impact,Troyersaid.

By then, Lauzon had regained her feet and began throwing rocks at the bear.

"That's when the sow left, actually went up back in the woods right where it came out from."

The entire attack lasted less than two minutes, immortalized by a spike inTroyer'sheart raterecorded by a monitor hewears while training.

'Be prepared, don't be naive'

Following the attack, the two cut short their 55-km run and returned to the trailhead.

Troyer said he called the leader of his trail-running group, KristaMitchell, to relay their story.

"My heart just kept beating faster and faster," Mitchell said. "I can't imagine how he felt, because I know how I felt just listening to him."

Mitchell founded the club that was training that day, the Triple Terrain Trail Trekkers Run Group.

Each member is now required to carry at least one can of bear spray during outdoor sessions, Mitchell said.

"It was totally because of what happened to Phil," she said. "When you go out in the bush, be prepared, don't be naive and think it's not going to happen to you."

She invited Troyer to demonstrate to the club how he used the bear spray.

The workshop was eye-opening, Mitchell said.Many group members did not realize the canemptieswithin 10 seconds, and must be used at close range to be effective.

"I thought it would come out more like a water hose ... not like a mist of air," Mitchell said. "I thought it would come out more hard and fierce, right in its face."

The workshop was especially useful for runners signed up for the Canadian Death Race, a two-dayultra-marathon broken into five stages Aug.3-5.

Participants are encouraged by event organizersto carry bear spray, as long as they know how to use it.

"You are out in the mountains, there is wildlife around," assistant race manager Kelsey Cox toldCBCNews on Wednesday. "We really want people to be safe and to be careful."

Cox said she had heard aboutthe recent bear encounter and said organizers would likely cancel the ultra-marathon if something similar happened shortly before or during the race.

The competition attracts endurance runners from around the world, who may have no experience sharing trails with bears or cougars.

She encouraged everyone signed up for this year's race to research risks such as bear encounters ahead of time.

"This is kind of dangerous and you are in the wilderness, and you should know what you're getting into," Cox said.

'I don't want you to be scared'

Members of Triple Terrain Trail Trekkers Run Group including Troyer and Lauzon will continue training on the Death Race trails near Grande Cache.

"I don't want you to stop training," Mitchell said she told her club. "I don't want you to stop going into the bush ... I don't want you to be scared. But you can't be naive. You've just got to go prepared."

Troyer said he will carry two cans of bear spray during the race.

Before challenging the 125-km course in August, he plans to revisit the path where he escaped the three grizzlies.

"I should have been dead, and I still sometimes question why I'm not," he said. "But it wasn't my time to go.

"I kind of have that peace when I go out in the woods. That if it's my time to go, I'm going to go. You just have to be prepared for that."