Staff Report
The best laid plans of goats and men often go awry.
They did in a big way at the highly-toured ‘First Annual Running of the Goats’ following the grand opening of the Covington Farmers Market on Saturday. (At least the ‘men’ part of it — the goats may really have had other ideas from the start.)
While a massive crowd of onlookers prepared to witness history in the making at Churchill Downs for the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby, a sizable crowd gathered in Covington prepared to witness the inaugural run of the Goebel goats from the market to their summer home at Goebel Park.
Everything went perfectly according to plan at the race track — all 20 horses stayed on course to the finish line and the favorite, Nyquist, crossed it first and gave his jockey historic back-to-back Derby wins.
At the Covington goat run, despite perfectly laid plans and a passel of ‘goat herders’ and policemen, things went hilariously awry.
If the goats understood the rules of the game, they just didn’t give a flying pig.
The cheering soon turned to surprised or terrified screams as goats jumped over people and other obstacles to make a break for it, leaving herders and police behind.
It was an epic escape.
Gasps and screams soon turned to “harmonious laughter,” according to one observer.
Some goats took a scenic route along the river. Others took a tour of the town. All scattered in various directions.
And, is anybody surprised?
There are certain things sure about goats. Goats are notoriously independent thinkers — and terrifically hard-headed. You can’t catch a goat by chasing it. They are agile and quick and can jump very high. They don’t like loud noises. They aren’t fond of unfamiliar surroundings. They don’t necessarily follow the leader.
There was a happy ending after a First Annual Chase Down of the Running Goats.
It was a community-building endeavor in every way and all was handled with great good humor.
No body was hurt, including the goats who are now safe in their summer domicile, free to munch away on yummy weeds in Goebel Park to their strong hearts’ content.
And, though the NKyTribune could not verify the rumor, they are reportedly looking forward to the second annual Running of the Humans.