I'm so sorry for lateness of post today, but everything so far has gone Pete Tong and I'm way behind everything now. Most of the hassles involved a trip tp the JobCentre where I'm still having a mare of a time trying to get some money for luxuries such as food and electricity, but they've promised me I won't have to wait much longer.
Hoobloodyray.
But enough about all that, again I'm sorry about this post but for now I'm going to give you something I knocked up for The Londonist to go with the piccies I let them use in return for the lovely Press Pass, but someone forgot to check their emails and it didn't get to go with it.
So for now, here is a brief report about The Great London Duck Race, and I'll post up a 'Wot Misty did at the Races' post later on in the week, akay?

Last Sunday dawned grey and drizzly but that didn't dampen the spirits of the people organizing the third Great British Duck Race!
For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it entails loads of small rubber ducks being loaded into a lock on the River Thames, then being set free to do battle with the elements until at last the Champion Duck crosses the finishing line in a blaze of glory.

That's the really short version. Quoting the press realease the organizers sent me;
"The Great British Duck Race was created by Mike Scott, Managing Director of Seventh Sense Event Management in 2006 after seeing an article about The Singapore Duck Race in 2001 when 123,500 rubber ducks set a new World Record and raised thousands of pounds for local charities. The Great British Duck Race is now a registered organisation in its own right, and since the initial press launch, in April 2007, some 427 charities have registered to sell ducks to their supporters. These include NSPCC, WaterAid, Macmillan Nurses, SENSE, SCOPE, Cancer Research UK, Downs Syndrome Association and Sparks to name a few."

Before the race the sum of over £100,000 had already been donated to charities, and afterwards the 250, 000 ducks that took part set a new Guinness World Record, hurrah!
And so yesterday I wombled my way to Hampton Court to see what the fuss was all about.
The day did start of being rainy and dank, but by 12pm the crowds had started to arrive, just in time to see Andy Hodge (Olympic Gold Medalist) turn up by boat and give the duckies a pep talk and advice on how best to win the race.
Shortly after, Emma Barton (of Eastenders fame) and Shane Geraghty (England Rugby player) turned up to get the countdown for the race underway, and when everybody was in place and ready to go, the ducks were sent on their way with many a rousing cheer from the onlooking crowds.
After a quick trip on a boat especially reserved for press and photograhers, I followed the crowds to the finishing line to await the winning ducks. A field had been reserved by the riverbank for charities involved to set up stalls where they could publicize their work and also collect more donations. What with the delicious food, drinks, champagne bar to be sampled the wait for the ducks to catch up was delightful, and for those with small people to entertain, a mini funfair had been laid on.
But all good things come to an end, and after the champion ducks passed the line, I packed up my gear and wended my weary way home.
But I can assure you I'll be back, and next year my rubberducky will come in, I just know it!

So that's it for now, apart from the loads of clickage I took which you can see here - Clicky <-
Apologies again,
ttfn,
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