A man in North Carolina was joined by an unexpected companion as he went for a run in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Kallup McCoy II, a coach and athlete, according to his Instagram , was running his usual nine-mile route from Bryson City, located about 180 miles west of Charlotte, up into the national park when he heard there was a bear nearby.

“I was about to turn around and head back to Bryson City when some hikers told me a bear was up the trail, so I went to see if I could get a pic of it,” McCoy told Storyful.

Video footage shows the young bear, assumed to be a yearling, running alongside McCoy and darting toward him as the runner attempts to scare him away using water and sticks. However, the bear refused to leave McCoy alone and kept trailing him, with the runner cal

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