Joe Kahlo
Last year, attendees of the New York City Marathon witnessed a peculiar and endearing sight: one of the competitors was a duck with customized webbed running shoes.
It is the biggest marathon in the world, with over 50,000 finishers in a typical year. However, the COVID-19 epidemic caused that number to drop to about 33,000 last year.
However, last year, Wrinkle, a sweet, emotional support duck, took part in the race.
According to the owners, New York artists Justin Wood and Joyce Kung, “Wrinkle the duck is more than just a beautiful Pekin duck,”
“She is a full-grown adult human child. She is fast. She is speed. She is zoom. She is Wrinkle. Still fast as duck boiiii.”
“I ran the NY marathon!” “Wrinkle” writes on Instagram. “I’ll get even better next year! Thanks to all the humans that were cheering for me!”
In this 2.5-minute video, you can watch snippets of Wrinkle in action:
On November 7, 2021, during the 50th iteration of the race, Wrinkle attracted notice as she waddle-ran through the streets of New York.
The little duck was cheered on by both runners and onlookers, and she was followed closely by multiple cameras the entire time.
The tiny red shoes Wrinkle had on her feet were of particular curiosity. According to Wood and Kung, they created Wrinkle the booties out of a scuba-gear-like, waterproof, soft material.
“Everyone’s asking about the shoes,” Wood tells the running publication. “So we’re looking into trying to mass produce them and put them out there.”
Since then, pictures, videos, and Wrinkle’s involvement have gone viral online.
Posts on social media have accumulated millions of views, responses, and comments, and the duck was even the subject of international news attention.
Through Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, you can keep up with Wrinkle’s explorations. Additionally, there is an internet shop that offers products with Wrinkle’s image on them.
