The Great Rubber Duck Race

Yes, you did read that correctly; yesterday I saw a rubber duck race. Or more accurately, the post-race chaos.

It was an event to raise money for a children's hospital; people could "adopt" a duck (for 4 Euros, I think), and the "owner" of the duck that won the race was to win a free trip to the US. They were also aiming for a world record by racing 150,000 rubber ducks. I think it was a great idea, but there were some problems with executing the plan: apparently as soon as they had put all the ducks in the Liffey river (the main river that divides Dublin East-West), they started "swimming" in the WRONG DIRECTION!

Unfortunately, I had no idea this was going on and missed the race itself, but happened to wander down to the river just as they were beginning to clean up; that's right, they were trying to retrieve all the ducks from the river! I had to ask what was going on, and was very amused by the story of the race. I hung around for a while, took some pictures, and was just about to leave when the people who were fishing the ducks out of the river (in little boats) started tossing some of the ducks up into the crowd.

Now, I know that people are naturally competetive and all, but this was a bit ridiculous -- people went completely crazy for those little ducks! I saw adults snatch them away from children, trample others while trying to catch a duck, shove pregnant women aside to grab one. It was not pretty. I waited until the insanity died down a bit before getting two (one of which I gave away to another hostel guest who had adopted a duck but missed the post-race excitement). Anyway, it was quite a sight to see, and now I have a lovely remembrance.

For more information, you can check these sites: http://www.dublincity.ie/press_news/events/duck_race.asp
http://www.childrenslifeline.ie/html/newsdetail.php?newsid=61&new=y