Ariane Daguin,
owner of D'Artagnan, created the Duckathlon 7 years ago to celebrate the company's
20th Anniversary (Last year the company hosted a slew of events to celebrate their 25th anniversary and
did not have the Duckathlon). Every team is a winner and receives goodies
including truffle butter, foie gras and even feathers-still-on birds! First,
second, third places and the Best Dressed team all get official trophies featuring the
D'Artagnan logo.
Thanks
once again to my careful Twitter use I was invited to join in the fun at this
exclusive event as a "free-range" judge. I arrived at JBF LTD not quite
sure what to expect, but looking forward to a day of duckingly good fun. I
checked in with Lily Hodge, Director of Public Realtions for D'Artagnan. Teams
arrived one by one. Some had matching shirts with jersey-style numbers and
names on the back, others wearing quacking yellow beaks. An adorable rubber duckie
dressed in a chefs coat tops the trophy that is awarded to the Best Dressed
team, so most teams try to show some spirit and usually love of foie gras through
their outfits. With my Duckathlon kit, complete with map, itinerary and rules for judging, I set out to each challenge at 1:oopm to
see how the teams were performing and find out what each trial involved.
Of
the 26 challenges 16 took place within Chelsea Market so most teams got to work
on the ones inside before venturing out into the surrounding neighborhood. Many of the
shops in the market hosted challenges. Favorites here include:
