Goat Joins Canadian Town's Half-Marathon, Gets Participation Medal

If you need another sign that the participation medal you got from running a fun run at your local park is a joke, look no further than the goat that was given one for running part of a half-marathon.

Not even the whole thing.

According to CBC News, the town of Conception Bay South in Newfoundland was hosting a T'Railway Trek Half Marathon with 250 runners ready to traverse the 13.1 (or however many kilometers that is) course.

However, when they passed a place called "Taylor's Pumpkin Patch" (wait, is this a real town or is this all the premise for a Hallmark movie? A town event in the middle of nowhere, pumpkin patches, etc.) 

A goat escaped from the pumpkin patch and decided to just cruise along the course for about four kilometers (that's about 2.5 miles for those of us who use that superior unit of measuring distance).

This got me thinking: do I think I could outrun a goat?

Kind of…

I think I could hang with a goat in a 40-yard dash. I'm not sure that I would win, but would it be competitive? I have some sneaky, explosive speed in short bursts, and that would catch the goat by surprise.

Now, if it was an endurance race like this half-marathon? I think it would smoke me.

The loose goat was corralled, but it was given a medal and the other competitors got the opportunity to take photos with him.

I know I would be bummed about the cheapening of my medal if I had completed that half-marathon (which there's no chance I ever would, but humor me for a moment). That goat ran less than a quarter of the race and got the same medal. I'd feel stupid doing 13.1 and not getting a superior medal.

What a cool story for that goat, but a bummer for anyone who thought their medal would mean something.