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The truck dumped the ducks from one side of a half-raised
bridge. After forming a yellow pool in the river, the ducks
floated for around 15 minutes before a winner and runner-up were
plucked from the water.
The annual event, a fundraiser for Special Olympics Illinois,
draws thousands of participants. At an accompanying festival,
participants snapped pictures with inflatable ducks and doodled
on a chalkboard under the prompt, “I adopt a duck because …”
Some sported rubber duck-printed shirts.
Becky Cavanagh, the Ducky Derby ambassador and a 13-year Special
Olympics athlete, held up the winning duck to the cheers of
crowds packed on both sides of the river.
Cavanagh said her favorite part about the Special Olympics was
“making new friends.” Asked before the race how she felt about
picking the winning duck, she cheered. “Woo!”
Special Olympics Illinois organizes competitions across the
state for people with disabilities and special needs. It costs
$10 to sponsor a “lone duck,” which will feed an athlete lunch
at a competition, and $30 for a “quack pack” of six ducks, which
supplies gold medals for a team. The competition has raised more
than $480,000.
The sponsor of the fastest duck wins an SUV, and the runner-up
will win $2,500 in cash, said Pete Beale-DelVecchio, president
of Special Olympics Illinois.
“It really is a fantastic day for our athletes,” he said ahead
of the race at an area next to the river, where derby attendees
posed with inflatable rubber ducks and bopped along to a live
DJ.
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