The crowd watches as "Wade" quickly approaches the finish line ahead of the rest of the flock.
Wrangler Fisher Carpenter is perplexed as a pink ball floats into his net.
SEELEY LAKE – This year's 22nd Annual Duck Race was no contest! Marcus Wehr's duck "Wade" took an early lead and never looked back. While the rest of the 399 ducks were close behind, many got hung up around logs upstream or stuck in slow moving eddies at the end.
While the ducks sold out, Organizer Cristine Matheny was short on duck wranglers ahead of the race. Several family and friends agreed to enjoy the cool water of the Clearwater River with net in hand to ensure no duck went unaccounted for during their annual river run.
Eric Mahugh from Butte jumped into the wrangling fun when one of the other wranglers held up an open net. He was invited by his cousins to join the Fourth of July festivities in Seeley Lake. Since all the ducks were sold out he decided to still come down and watch the race for the first time. He was happy to help out.
"It was awesome," said Mahugh.
Seeley-Swan High School graduates Hunter Mincey and Elijah King had the job of walking the river to ensure all the ducks made it safely back into the nets. King said he spotted one duck sneak behind a log. When he reached in to grab it, a live duck came out quacking. The duck continued to follow the flock of rubber ducks, harassing them the rest of the race.
Matheny is excited to continue the tradition of supporting local youth activities with the proceeds from the event. She recently paid tuition for a few high school students to attend football camp.
"That is what this is all about," said Matheny. "I hate to see kids not be able to participate because of money."
Matheny was also grateful for all the volunteers who helped put on the event and those that purchased ducks. She looks forward to another great race next year.
This year's winners (First four ducks received a cash prize with 5-10th place receiving two chicken dinners from the Seeley Lake Chicken Coop):
1. Marcus Wehr's "Wade" - $100
2. Tracee Able's "Henny Penny" - $75
3. Tyler Blair's "Quack Quack" - $50
4. Donovon's "Dino Z" - $25
5. Jeanne Dunk's "Donald Dunk"
6. Anne Roinson's "Kevin"
7. John Zell's "Cindy"
8. Cameron Foucar-Scocki's "Cameron"
9. Cory Thompson's "Mason"
10. Mary Fredette's "InfiDuck"
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