FRISCO, Texas -- Marcia Foster has devoted more than 20 years to running and has the hardware to prove it. Foster is an avid tri-athlete who has competed across the country.
"That was my prayer time, my devotional time, my quiet time, my nature time," Foster said about running.
But the run she took Saturday was the opposite of what she normally enjoys in her daily run. It was cut short at four miles because she was "spent," mentally and physically. She said she felt "lots of anxiety" even after they decided to run in a completely different place.
"I'm devastated that I cannot run in my own neighborhood," Foster said. "I cannot go out and run."
She is still mentally and physically feeling the trauma of her encounter with a coyote in her neighborhood in Frisco. It happened just two weeks ago on a run with a friend. The trauma nurse said she has bites to both legs and even her arm. Foster said the coyote charged at them from behind.
"I went down completely head-first and there was a coyote on my leg," Foster said. "I could see him crouched down as if he was going to lunge at my face. I've got swelling and bruising all up and down the leg."
It is one of a handful of cases of aggressive coyotes in Frisco. City officials think they might have caught and put down the coyote responsible.
On Saturday, a homeowner told WFAA that his Yorkie was attacked by a coyote. The dog has puncture wounds to the back. Later, the homeowner said his cameras caught another coyote pacing in the backyard before scaling the fence.
"You're kind of scared to go out of your own home a little bit, because you don't know what's out there...or if you're being hunted," Lisa Durocher said.
Foster said she believes it's not just one coyote. She pleaded for people to stay vigilant and not find total comfort in measures like "looking big and making loud noises," because that didnt work for her. What she wants is the city to do something more substantive.
"It's unchartered territory," Foster said. "So I think it's going to take a larger project with people involved to see how we can coexist safely."
City officials said there have been no new developments outside of continued patrols in the neighborhood.
Foster is training for a triathlon in April. She said she will definitely heal physically faster than she will mentally.