Wild Things!!! An A-to-Z Ode To All The Wild Animals I've Met On The Trail (Part 1 of 3)
Alligators, dolphins, bears, eagles, wild pigs, tarantulas, and killer swans...I've met a lot of crazy creatures while racing. Perhaps you have too?
There are few thrills as exhilarating as crossing paths with a wild animal while racing in an ultramarathon, triathlon, or bike race. I’ve seen a bunch in my 20+ years of racing, often eliciting joy and wonder, and occasionally panic and WTF expletives. But I love them all! To express my gratitude, here’s an A-to-Z list of my favorite encounters, which I’ll break down in three stories. If you have more stories of your own to add, please comment!
A is for Alligators
If you ever needed incentive to stay on the trail, look no further than the alligators of Huntsville State Park, Texas, USA, home of the Rocky Raccoon 100-Miler. I ran this race in 2015, and got to see a few of these beauties from a distance. At night, my mind was convinced they were everywhere among the roots and logs! #murderlog
B Is For Bats, Bears, and Buffalo
If you’ve done 100k/100-mile runs, you are no stranger to that glorious sunset moment when the bats take to the sky. In a few minutes, they sonar zig-zag across the night sky, and just like that, all the bugs are gone! My favorite memory of this was after the 2012 Austin Marathon, watching a million bats take flight from under the Congress Avenue bridge.
Bears, unfortunately, are not quite as fun to find on the trail. They are so prevalent in the Lake Tahoe, Nevada, area, that it’s hard to run a race and NOT have one of those big black shadows sniffing in the air, and coming for your gels. I’ve seen them at the Tahoe Rim Trail races, Silver State 50m, and the notorious 2011 Western States 100-Mile where a bear stopped the two leading women, Kami Semick and Nikki Kimball, a few miles from the finish. Also, a camping tip for you - if a bear comes at night, don’t run out of your tent naked and use your bear spray. Just trust me on this one.
Buffalo are another great beast you can find in the midwest of the USA, as I did at the Deadwood-Mickleson Trail Marathon, and the Black Hills 100-mile. Although they aren’t “wild” like they used to be, they do have areas where they are allowed to roam. They are beautiful and powerful up close.
C Is For Cows, Coyotes, Condors, and Chamois
Cows! Who doesn’t love cows? Here in Europe, they have right of way, which makes things interesting at races like the Sierre-Zinal, the Matterhorn Ultraks 46k in Zermatt, and the UTMB in Chamonix, France. At the Matterhorn Ultraks, two dozen cows were blocking the only gate on the trail, and a bunch of us stood there perplexed, until a more rural-familiar trail runner grabbed a stick and scooted them to the side without losing a stride. Cows are an audible presence here in Europe, as well - one can always here their soothing cowbells in the hills, matching the chapel bells of the churches in the valleys. In the USA, the Big Sur Marathon route in California is full of cows with an ocean view, including the famous “TchaiCOWsky”.
Coyotes are everywhere in California, and if you had an early morning race, you can expect they will be on the sidelines of the trail, ready to snatch any rabbits or quail fleeing the path. You can spot them in packs of 2-3, usually with their friend, the falcon-who-prefers-mice, floating in the sky. The guy in this picture lived on our deck in Woodside, CA, for a summer, and even enjoyed the swing. When I saw him on the trail, he would just “zoomie” around, showing off. Although now that I think about it, maybe he’s a grey fox?
If you’ve ever seen a California bird that looks like a vulture with a 2-3 meter wingspan, you likely just glimpsed the rare California Condor. I spotted a group of three while cycling up Highway 1 in the 2001 Big Kahuna Half Ironman Triathlon, and WOW, they are BIG! Much like the “Last Shadow” leonopteryx in the first Avatar movie, it is the biggest bird in the sky. A good incentive not to crash - they could probably eat a triathlete long before help arrived, and use the bike spokes as toothpicks (beakpicks?).
The chamois call the European Alps their home, and thus the reason they can give you an instant lesson in how to fearlessly descend the granite rocks and shale. Usually this is how you see them - a hairy freight train blur coming right down the creek line, like a white-tailed superhero. I saw a small family of chamois while running the 2013 Mont Blanc Marathon in Chamonix, France, enjoying a wildflower breakfast.
D is for Dolphins and Dogs
Dolphins love to play, so it’s not uncommon to see them join a triathlon swim. They joined us at the 2010 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, and most recently at the 2021 Santa Barbara Triathlon. My favorite dolphin memory, however, was when they joined me surfing at Durban, South Africa, right after the 2015 Comrades Ultramarathon. Catching air, and doing flips in the waves…true masters of their craft, and artists of their terrain.
Dogs, our faithful running friends! So many great mutts have been on the trials with us, and occasionally they get to race each other. My favorite dog race was the State Street Mile in Santa Barbara, CA, which has multiple dog-and-owner divisions organized by size of dog. But you better be fast - the winning time for the “big dogs” was 3 minutes 57 seconds the year I ran with Rocky the Pug! My little lunchbox was a tad slower in the small dog category. ;-) But a big shout out to Rocky, that glorious pug - he defied his breed stereotype and loved running 5-10k on the trails so much, his early morning insistance was the initial motivator for why I started in the sport in 2001.
E is for Egrets and Eagles
I have yet to see an elephant during a race (there’s still time!), but I have had the pleasure of spotting the snowy egret at the Bay Trails Marathon, a golden eagle at the Way Too Cool 50k, and the bald eagle at the Mount Shasta Century ride. They all proved to be better at fishing than I ever will.
F is for Fox, Frogs, and Freaks
Here in Austria, it’s the red fox who comes out to play at races like the adidas Infinite Trails, the Wienerwald 48k, or the Mozart 100k. Like their mischievous American cousins, they are curious and playful, and always looking for something scurrying. Frogs I like to mention without a photo, since most of my memories are hearing them croak in unison in the late afternoons in ultras like Where’s Waldo 100k in Oregon, or the Caumsett 50k in New York.
Let’s not forget the weirdest animal of them all…the freaky hoomans! And there’s no better freak show than the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco, CA. Seriously, you can’t unsee what you experience here.
G is for Giraffes, Goats, and the GOAT
When attending the Comrades (ultra)Marathon in Durban, South Africa, they said if I wanted to go trail running, to “look out for alligators, lions, poisonous snakes, and most of all, giraffes”. What? Giraffes more than lions?!? I took the warning seriously, and saw them only from a distance.
Goats, on the other hand, are a tad easier to handle. I’ve seen many varieties of mountain goat, pygmy goat, and even fainting goats that run up for snacks and pass out with their mouths open. Once, on a trail run in Eugene, OR, a goat knocked me on my ass for getting close to his barn (which in honesty, I deserved). But generally they are very friendly.
One can’t mention goats with mentioning THE G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time), Eliud Kipchoge, whom I got to see break his own marathon world record at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. He will be coming to the 2023 Boston Marathon this year as well, so I will hopefully get to see him again!
H-O Wild Animals Coming Next…
Horses, Javelinas, Manatees, and Owls that steal headlights…so much more to come! In the meantime, drop a comment and let me know if you have some good A-G animal stories of your own.
Cheers, Scott
Marmots here above tree line in Colorado! They are the size of a roly-poly small dog, and they have a habit of crawling into warm car engines at trailheads and chewing wires. Trail users are encouraged to park and then pop their hood, and leave vehicle's hood up, to discourage marmots from hanging out there.
Yup, your coyote is really a gray fox. I'm very familiar with them. On one of my routes I know where they have a little "Fox City." They are very friendly and have gotten to know me. Adorable and smart.