ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO — A runner was attacked by a bear during a marathon in New Mexico on Saturday.

Karen Williams, a Los Alamos woman aged in her 50s, encountered the black bear as she ran in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

The bear mauled the woman, bit her neck and scratched her face after she scared one of the animal’s cubs.

Williams was airlifted to hospital and released on Sunday, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

Officials from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish tracked down the animal and killed it on Sunday. They are still searching for her three cubs and plan to take them to a wildlife centre.

The department said state law requires any animal that bites a human to be killed and tested for rabies, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

The black bear is the only bear in New Mexico and it rarely attacks humans. However, like all bears, black bears are protective of their cubs and can become aggressive if they think their offspring are in danger.