Two joggers in northern Alberta had the run of their lives this month during a close encounter with a curious black bear. The incident occurred outside Fort McMurray, not far from where an oil sands worker was killed by a bear earlier this spring. The men, Bruce Allan and Greg Armour, were running on the Matcheetawin Discovery Trails on June 5 when they noticed they were being followed.
A video Allan posted to YouTube on June 13, which has now been viewed more than 165,000 times, shows the men trying to persuade the bear to back off for more than four minutes.
“Go on your way. Get.”
“Back. Back. Back.”
“Let us go.”
The grabbed rocks in self-defence, but didn’t need to use them. The bear eventually lost interest and the joggers made a dash for their vehicle.
“It was just a matter of trying to keep together and keep focused and work until we had a chance,” Armour told CTV .
Photo Bruce Allan/YouTube
