A rubber duck that escaped a failed world record race 18 years ago has been found by a teen washed up on a beach 423 miles away.
The record attempt, held in Dublin in the summer of 2006, was part of “World Duck Race Ireland” which corralled 150,000 rubber ducks at the starting line in the River Liffey.
Despite organizer’s attempts to collect them all, several escaped into the sea. This one was found on the island of Stronsay in Orkney, Scotland.
Filip Miller, 13, stumbled across the rubber duck while walking the dog and brought it back home to show his mom.
“He didn’t really look at it, he just put it in his pocket,” said Marion. “I had a look at it and saw the writing.”
“It said “World Record Duck Race, Ireland 2006,” and so we got a bit excited and started Googling it.”
Each duck was sponsored for the race that required each duck to pass under five bridges, with the fastest one declared the winner—earning its sponsor a trip to the United States.
Other ducks that flew the coop in the race have been found in Morecambe and the Isle of Wight—with one even being discovered in Sweden in 2016.
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“It’s always fascinating finding things on the shore—a bit like a message on the bottle,” said Marion.
“You always wonder what the story is and where it’s come from, so it’s really special to be able to learn about its journey.
“It was so long ago as well…18 years ago and the writing is still intact on it and it even has a number on it.”
As the find was posted on social media, commenters began wondering about the future of the duck, but Marion says there’s no chance she’s throwing it out.
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“I don’t think we’ll keep him in the bath, but we’re definitely going to keep it on the shelf!”
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