Charity runner busted on Quebec highway

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MONTREAL, July 3 (UPI) -- A young man running across Canada to help an Edmonton children's hospital got a publicity boost when he was busted in Quebec.

Curtis Hargrove, 23, of Alberta was stopped by police for running on the Trans-Canada Highway, The (Montreal) Gazette reported. Morgan Seward, 19, a Newfoundland student who drives Hargrove's recreational vehicle, was ticketed for parking on the highway's shoulder.

"We've been all over the news," Seward said. "There's no such thing as bad publicity, right?"

Hargrove spent 5 hours at the police station in St. Nicolas and was then given a ticket for obstructing justice. He and Seward said reports on their difficulties got them 700 more likes on Facebook and additional votes in a "gamechanger" contest being run by Scotia Bank.

The pair started out in St. John's, Newfoundland, May 5 and hope to reach Victoria, British Columbia, in late October or early November. Seward said police in most of the Maritime provinces gave them escorts, and in New Brunswick they were told police escorts appear to cause more accidents.

Seward said she would like to fight her ticket because she had her flashers on and was well out of the roadway.

The run benefits the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation. Hargrove said he hopes to raise $1 million ($996,000 U.S.).