Marathons can be a challenging, but not impossible, endeavor for anyone willing to put the pedal to the metal and challenge themselves. Apparently, being a human is also no longer a restriction placed on the nationally acclaimed race.
On Nov. 7, Wrinkle the emotional support duck became the first duck to run in the New York City marathon. Although Wrinkle may not have taken first in the race, she has achieved more than most other ducks her age.
Wrinkle’s presence proved to be a hit, with her presence gaining the attention of everyone in attendance. Wrinkle’s endeavors also went viral on social media as well, with her post gaining attention of other webbed footed celebrities such as the Aflac duck.
In the viral instagram post, which gained over 200 thousand likes, Wrinkle’s owners, Justin Wood and Joyce Kung wrote, “I ran the NY marathon!!” as Wrinkle, “I’ll get even better next year! Thanks to all the humans that were cheering for me,” the Instagram post stated.
The post featured a short clip of Wrinkle running alongside her fellow racers. A longer video was featured on Wrinkle’s YouTube channel. On the YouTube post, Wrinkle’s owners described Wrinkle as “She is fast. She is speed. She is zoom. She is Wrinkle. Still fast as duck boiiii,” YouTube stated.
Wrinkle was just one of 300,000 runners in the New York City marathon. She did not end up running the full 26 miles, and instead only ran the last 800m of the home stretch.
Wrinkle arrived at the race that morning adorned with bright red webbed shoes and a willingness to bring joy to everyone around her. The shoes, her owners say, were made of a scuba-gear-like material that is soft, easy to clean and waterproof to protect the duck’s feet from bumblefoot. Bumblefoot is a common infection that can be caused by running on rough terrain, such as the course for the marathon.
Due to the overwhelming support that Wrinkle received, and the interest in her shoes, Wood and Kong have stated that they are now looking into mass-producing the shoes.
To many, Wrinkle was viewed as a prime example of how emotional support animals can come in every shape and size. Specifically, viewers declared that they can also provide support to people even beyond their owners, such as what Wrinkle did in providing encouragement and support to everyone present at the race.
The winners of the marathon were Albert Korir of Kenya, who took gold in the men’s race, and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, who took gold in the women’s race. Jepchirchir also recently won gold in the women’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sources: People, SouthAfrican, PetaPixel
Grace Nealy 
Jason Karch 
Josh Steen