Jul 24, 2006 6:34 pm US/Mountain
Black Bear Slows Down Athlete In Triathlon
by Shaun Boyd
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) ―
A woman from Denver hit a black bear Sunday on the Boulder Peak Triathlon and still managed to complete the course.
Sabrina Oei was bicycling on the grueling course through Boulder's Lefthand Canyon and making good time when a bear suddenly appeared.
"It was sort of galumphing across the street," Oei said. "I tried to slow down as much as I could but I pretty much broadsided it going about 35 miles per hour. I couldn't believe it had happened, I mean, who hits a bear?"
Oei flew over her handle bars, hit the pavement and slid along the road. She incredibly got up and got back on the saddle.
"I had no broken bones, I could breathe fine, everything was pretty much in working order," Oei said. "I was more shocked and sort of humored then anything at the time."
If she was in shock, others were in disbelief.
"The people I was running with when I went past, they'd see my back and say 'what happened' and I'd throw out, 'I hit a bear' and they'd say 'yea that's a great story,'" Oei said.
"I just couldn't stop laughing."
Barry Siff, the race director, said the race draws the world's top tri-athletes, but Oei is in a category of her own.
"This was a very tough course to come back up after an accident and do 15 to 20 more miles on the bike, than run a 10K," Siff said. "She's quite a person."
The bear run-in cost her about 35 minutes but she managed to finish the race in 3 hours and 6 minutes, placing her at 72nd in her age group of 144 athletes.
"You never expect this to happen," Oei said. "There are 1600 athletes in the entire triathlon and to be that one woman who gets hit by a bear is pretty unbelievable."
Oei plans to compete in a half marathon in San Francisco this weekend.
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