This thread made me start thinking about how fast a bear can really run. I know, when I was in Alaska, the rangers said humans can't outrun a bear...

Black Bears: "A black bear can run, for a short distance, as fast as 35 miles per hour. That's about as fast as a horse or a deer can run. It's much faster than humans can run." (from Black Bear Association) "A bear can run 60 percent faster than the world's fastest sprinter." (from US Park Service)

Grizzly Bears: "Grizzly bears can sprint between 30-35 miles per hour, about 44 feet per second." (from Yellowstone bear safety)

Polar Bears: "Polar bears don't normally like to run for long periods, but on a good surface a polar bear can reach speeds of 30 km/h (or 20 mph)." (from PBS)
.....okay, so how many of us fly fish in Polar bear region?

One thing I was told was that bears run slower downhill than uphill or on the level because of their hip/leg placement. (This does not mean that the first response on a bear sighting is to run downhill. There have been incidents where bears still ran down people running downhill.)

Diane