Occurred on December 8, 2024 / Moorpark, California, USA

Info from Licensor: "Squared off with a 100 pound mountain lion (BEAUTIFUL animal btw) at Happy Camp in Moorpark today. It ran me down while I was running the trail about 12 miles down on a 18 mile run. Right before it pounced, I swiped at it to get her away. We squared up for about 30 seconds until I yelled enough with a deep voice to get her back. Then we squared off for a good 5 minutes about 10 feet away with the cat in a pounce stance before I charged it and pushed it back up the hill. Please be careful at dawn and dusk in the mountains. (Please do not try to video mountain lions. I prepared for this encounter for 6 months mentally in case it happened, you just don't choose the day it happens. My hope is that mountain lions realize we are not prey or danger.) I'm also a cat dad of a rescue that thinks he's a mountain lion sometimes."