During an annual half-marathon in Newfoundland, a strange individual was seen among the runners during the final few miles.
A goat, seemingly excited by all the motion, was happily trotting along between the sneaker-shod bipedals on the road through Conception Bay South.
The occasion was the annual T’Railroad Trek Half Marathon on Newfoundland’s east coast. Winding through forest trails and town streets, the runners passed a local business called Taylor’s Pumpkin Patch.
Mayor Darrin Bent said one of their employees suddenly joined the race.
“They have a resident goat, Mr. Joshua. And when the runners went past the pumpkin patch, the goat decided, ‘Well, I’m not staying here,'” Bent told CBC News.
The goat covered an amazing 2.4 miles of the course before his owner Mr. Taylor caught up to him and led him the last quarter mile to the finish line. Taylor said he had come abreast of his goat’s newfound passion for endurance running through social media posts of the race while it was going on. There were hundreds of pictures and videos.
Meanwhile, at the finish line, Mayor Bent caught word of Joshua’s participation from other runners and decided after a moment of befuddlement to prepare a medal for him.
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“We very quickly put a medal around his neck and he became quite the star. Most people who actually ran the half marathon wanted their picture with Joshua at the finish line,” said Bent.
Mr. Taylor said that Joshua has always liked crowds, and evidently got caught up in the excitement of the runners, many of whom decided to match their pace with the goat, who reportedly slowed down and sped up at different intervals.
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The mayor said he hopes the goat will become a mascot for the event, and to that end he has been designated the half marathon GOAT (greatest of all time) and is soon to drop the puck at a local CBS ice hockey game.
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