A record 185 Quaggy Ducks entered the 2nd Great #QuaggyDuckRace on Sunday 22 May in Manor Park, Lewisham.

Stuck duck near finishing line

The race, part of the Hither Green Festival 2016, was held on the same stretch of the River Quaggy polluted in February’s diesel fuel spill from a derailed engine at Hither Green sidings.

But this did not impeded Quaggy Duck DD3, owned and trained by Mirian, who broke the tape in a record 22 minutes surprising race organisers.

Runner up was Quaggy Duck DD5, owned and trained by Katherine. 3rd place went to Quaggy Duck Q1, owned and trained by Wing She Chan.

Last over the line, 10 minutes behind the winner, was Quaggy Duck N2, owned and trained by May. All four won prizes.

Prize ducks: 1st, 2nd, 3rd & last place ducks line up

Paul de Zylva, race organiser and Chair of Quaggy Waterways Action Group said:
‘It’s a fast course. The middle section gets a bit slow where the river is straight and has concrete on one side. But the more natural sections speed things up a lot.’
‘But to win 3 minutes faster than last year is a surprise. We lengthened the course by starting the race further upstream and extended the finishing line by 30 yards. Clearly, the good to firm watery conditions made a perfect race day for Quaggy Ducks that had trained hard.’

The 3rd Great #QuaggyDuckRace will be held in September

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