Long distance runner 'Caribou Legs' stopped by Alberta RCMP

The Gwich'inrunnerknown as'Caribou Legs' was about100 kilometres north of Calgary,when theAlberta RCMP stopped him.

Brad Firth, who was given the name by a family member, has beenrunning from Vancouver to St. John's since Mayto raise awareness for murdered and missing aboriginal women.

Police received reports "that there was crazy Indian running along the highway waving a gun," Caribou Legs said in an interview on CBC Radio's Radio Active.

In a video he posted to Facebook,the RCMP officer can be heardexplaining that a driver called in to say there was someone "with make-up on their face and looked like they had a gun in their hand."

He wasn't charged by police.

The issue is a very personal one for Firthas hissister died last summer.This is his fifth run across the country and will be his longest run to date.

Running from the police

Caribou Legs has had run-ins with the police in the past, but he was surprised to be stopped this time.

Last summer, he ran from and Vancouver to Ottawa to help raise funds and plead with politicians toprotect Yukon's Peel Watershed. He was stopped several times by authoritiesin Ontariowhile he ran along the highway.

"I'm kind of used to it, it's just a lot of people don't know much about what I'm doing," he said.

Since arriving in Alberta this summer, he said he has also been stopped by police in Edmonton for jaywalking and in Calgary for an unpaid C-Train ticket.

He said he was surprisedbecausehe has had very few issues since he started running, asidefrom getting stoppedin Ontario, where highway regulations are stricter.

'You have a gift'

In fact, his running career began when a police officer in Vancouver first encouraged him to pursue it as a sport.

"I used to get chased by the Vancouver city police when I was a homeless drug addict and it was put to me by one of the police officers, 'you have a gift.'"

He then joined the Vancouver Falcons athletic club and soon after became one of the top marathon runners in the city.He credits running with turning his life around and helping him along hispath to recovery.

One of his goals now is to run alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau andtalk to him about the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.