Caribou Legs gives stern warning
Former drug addict says running saved his life
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Police officers in Vancouver were the first to notice his ability to run, said Brad Firth.
Harley Klengenberg, 8, and Maiya Klegenberg, 13, listened to a speech on healthy life choices given by crack-addict-turned-runner Brad Firth, aka Caribou Legs, who has been giving talks at city schools over the past month. Firth will run from Vancouver to Ottawa at the end of the month. - |
The 45-year-old former crack-cocaine addict from Inuvik - known as 'Caribou Legs' - said police told him he'd been a hard suspect to nab.
"I got noticed by a few police officers because they had chased me on foot," he said.
"I got recruited by the Vancouver Falcons - they're a really strong running group in Vancouver - and one thing led to another."
Firth has been giving speeches about life choices for students at city schools - he's already visited Mildred Hall School and Sir John Franklin School, and will be at William McDonald School on May 19 after he makes a visit to a school in Rae-Edzo on May 13. He said he hopes the students will learn from his mistakes.
"I hope they get a really sound understanding of choices," he said. "How seriously choices can shape their lives. Especially their early life."
Firth said his story begins in Vancouver, when he was employed as a construction worker in the 1990s.
"I ... slowly started working with construction workers who were doing crack," he said. "And that's how it started. I just got pulled right into that lifestyle. I was always trying to find ways and means to get more drugs because I could no longer hold a job. I became a slave."
Scoring drugs and living on the street became a way of life, he said. He said he learned how to survive on Vancouver streets from other addicts. When people he knew began to die as a result of their addictions he still kept using, he said. But then he got a "rude awakening."
"Finally it was my brother who passed away," he said. "He died from HIV."
Firth said he then started on the path toward getting clean.
"I didn't want that to happen to me ... I was scared. I just took the steps toward going into sober houses," he said.
After it was clear he was serious about changing his life, the Vancouver police officers recommended he get into running.
"They recognized my running and said you should join the group," he said. "I started training with them twice a week and I found my spot and I found my place. It was definitely running. That's where I fit comfortably today. I'm grateful to have gotten a second chance."
Shirley Desjarlais, an aboriginal language and culture teacher at Mildred Hall School, said she hopes Firth's words inspire her students to be more active.
"I hope they go away making better choices, being active and leading healthy lifestyles," she said.
Firth said young people need to get active at a young age to keep themselves headed in the right direction.
"I stress the importance of organized sports to get good mentorship," he said. "Be careful who is teaching you out there."
Firth, who lives in Yellowknife now, said running has given him opportunities he wouldn't have dreamed were possible.
"Running gives me a voice," he said.
"I get to go all kinds of places and I get to stand up for the environment when I'm running. And it makes me able to medicate some of my ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-Active Disorder) as well. I'm able to slow down and think ... and just be able to be more wise. My whole life is about running. I wake up and I go run a marathon when I'm training. It builds me up and keeps me focused and keeps me looking forward."
Firth said he recently ran from Vancouver to Whitehorse and is training for a 4,800 kilometre run from Vancouver to Ottawa he'll make at the end of the month.
He said everything is ready for the run but he's still looking for a videographer willing to follow him.
"I don't want any whiners," he said.
Lydell Macnad, 9, of Mildred Hall School, said he thought Firth's story was "pretty cool."
He said the lesson he learned was to never give up on his dreams no matter what happens.
Harley Klengenberg, 8, who also listened to Firth's talk last month at Mildred Hall School, said she enjoyed the visit by the runner who she was able to quickly recognize when he walked into the school Monday afternoon.
"He ran ... to Whitehorse from Vancouver," she said.
"Maybe I want to do that one day and be in the newspaper again."
