Video of Duck Running in New York City Marathon Sends Everyone Quackers

A video of a duck taking part in this year's New York City marathon has been quacking up animal fans on social media.

Footage of Wrinkle the duck pounding the pavement as part of the 26.2-mile race was posted to TikTok, where it quickly found a captive audience.

In the clip, Wrinkle can be seen running alongside the competitors while her human carers cheer on from the sidelines.

The video then cuts to a shot showing the feathered fowl jogging toward the camera, in what appears to be a pair of custom-made duck sneakers.

Keen to play up to the attention, Wrinkle lets out a little quack before continuing on her way.

The video can be viewed here.

The New York City Marathon was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the race returned this year for what was its 50th anniversary.

This year's event saw Kenyan runner Peres Jepchirchir make history by becoming the only Olympic gold medal winner to also taste victory at the New York City Marathon.

Yet, for many animal lovers the world over, it was the sight of a duck taking part in the race that grabbed their attention with the TikTok video of Wrinkle's efforts amassing more than 2.6 million views in less than 24 hours.

Despite the fact Wrinkle most likely didn't complete the full race, as no official time was posted online, the duck still earned praise from many fans, including several notable names.

Chelsea Handler saw the video as a source of inspiration, writing: "If you can do this, anyone can," while Peloton invited Wrinkle to host her very own "20-minute hip hop waddle" class.

TV personality Tammy Ly declared: "This duck is more athletic than I am," with NHL franchise the Anaheim Ducks declaring Wrinkle a "legendary duck" for her efforts.

Actor Ethan Trace demanded "someone put the Rocky theme over this" and there was even a response from Adidas who said they were "sending this to our design team to petition for a new duck shoe collection."

The most heartfelt message came from someone posting as gates_christina, who commented: "I know this may seem silly, but I've been so deeply depressed lately and seeing this little lady running has actually made me smile."

Wrinkle the Duck's official account responded: "As an official emotional support duck hearing this makes me feel like I'm doing my job well. Wrinkle loves you."

According to her owners, Justin Wood and Joyce Kung, Wrinkle was born on September 9, 2020. Wood and Kung told Newsweek about the motivations behind creating an Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channel dedicated to their beloved duck.

"Like any parents, we want to document her adventure but also show people how smart ducks can be naturally, they're a lot smarter than people think," they said. "Also, people always seem very happy when they meet Wrinkle in person, so we want to translate that joy through the internet."

Wood and Kung said they were in the neighborhood watching the New York City Marathon when they hit upon the idea of creating the video, noting that Wrinkle "loves to run."

"She likes to follow us around, and she doesn't need a leash, so sometimes she can walk up to 15-20 blocks," they said. "We have also done a lot of fairs, events and parades with her. In the Bronx Halloween Parade, she walked the whole 1.4 miles! I think those helped her with her marathon skills."

Though the marathon itself spans over 26 miles, they reckon Wrinkle managed a commendable 50 feet. "We ran with her till she stopped, and we gave her some water and she took a break," they revealed. "We did that like three times throughout the hour."

Wood and Kung said there are exciting plans on the horizon for Wrinkle, who is already part of a collaborative art show taking place at Astor Place Hairstylists in New York until December 9. Even better still, the much-loved duck is planning her own art show in December while there are also plans afoot for a documentary and an actual line of duck shoes.

"We designed and made her shoes and have been working on selling ducks shoes for a while now, since duck's feet are very tender and could get cut easily on concrete," they said. "We've got a lot of requests for duck shoes, and we're trying our best to get them ready!"

Wrinkle's story serves as a reminder of the extraordinary things animals are capable of.

In one previous example, a dog called Nala demonstrated her impressive ability to walk around on her two hind legs—much to the shock of her owner.

There was also the recent example of George, a paraplegic cat who defied his disability to showcase an incredible turn of pace.