Duck races paddle their way into fair lore

Of the many things New Mexico is known for - the mysterious Roswell "UFO crash" of 1947, Carlsbad Caverns National Park and being the birthplace of actress Demi Moore - duck racing usually doesn't come to mind.

But it's true. The quirky sport was invented decades ago by residents of Deming, a small town near the Mexican border. They came up with the crazy competition for a festival and have kept The Great American Duck Race running in the state ever since.

Robert Duck - his last name really is Duck - owns and operates the only traveling duck race in the country and he's spending his weekend putting his feathered friends to the test at the DuPage County Fair, which runs through Sunday at 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton. His ducks will race at noon today and throughout the day Saturday and Sunday.

When show time approaches and the funky "disco duck" music featuring everyone's favorite duck, Donald, starts playing, the bleachers fill up with kids shooting their hands in the air hoping to be picked to race a duck.

One of the summer camp kids in the crowd on Thursday, 5-year-old Janyra Sutton, got picked along with 15 other kids and adults to release the ducks in four separate heats and a championship round. She was helped by Mecca Fountain, 13, who participated in an earlier race.

Janyra's duck came in first for its heat, winning her a plastic, yellow duck whistle and advancing her to the finals.

"I'm gonna wake my mommy up with it," Janyra said of her prize. She also excitedly reported that "one of them flapped his wings on me" and the ducks were "a little heavy."

"They were jumping everywhere," Mecca said of the birds that literally seem to skid across the water. Blink your eyes and the race is almost over. It's pretty amusing.

Before the race, kids can view the ducks up close in their pen and even put a quarter in a machine that dispenses food.

"Here ducky, duck," a little girl in shorts and a pink tank-top whispered as she poked her small hand through the fence.

"Eeeeeggs!" another girl yelled.

In 1980, Duck heard about the Deming races on the radio. He thought it would be fun to enter his two pet ducks as a joke, but they actually placed in the race.

To date, Duck's ever-growing fleet has won more than $50,000 in prize money and made several appearances on popular late night talk shows and in magazines.

Although he's raced ducks for decades, he's only been touring with them since 1999.

Duck always says, "you can't watch a duck race without smiling," and, on Thursday at least, it was true.