The Balloon Race

Duck Race Updates

The online duck race is becoming more popular. During lockdown I added 1 Yellow Duck to the balloon race to test the market and see if there was any demand for ducks. In the beginning it wasn't viable to build a custom race so ducks had to run on the balloon race platform with references to balloons everywhere.

After a short time I added more colours:

As demand increased I added characters:

A brightly colored yellow rubber duck with an orange beak and patch is shown in a cartoon style.A colorful rubber duck illustration with a pink outline and contrasting shades of red and orange.A simple, blue cartoon duck with a rounded body and small beak.A pink rubber duck with a purple wing is depicted in a cartoon style.A purple rubber duck with a dark blue wing is depicted.A red rubber duck wearing a crown and a cape is depicted.A rubber duck is illustrated in a camouflage pattern with a helmet and eye protection.A rubber duck is dressed as a pirate, complete with a hat, eye patch, and sword.A cartoon rubber duck wearing sunglasses is depicted.A cartoon penguin is wearing a top hat, orange bow tie, and black cape.A cartoon yellow duck is wearing a red winter hat and scarf.A stylized penguin wearing a cape and a star-shaped medal is depicted in a cartoonish style.A cartoon duck dressed as a cowboy, wearing a hat and bandana.A cartoon duck is wearing a brown explorer hat and beige coat.A colorful cartoon duck is depicted with a soccer ball design on its body.

We're now at the point of 50/50 for balloons and ducks so this week we've made more changes.

The Description at the top of the page now says "Virtual Duck Race":

The "See balloons in flight" button is now "see ducks swimming":

After registering a duck the email confirmation wording has been changed:

Hi David,

Thank you for entering duck(s) for the Test Ducks virtual duck race. 

Your ducks are now ready to fly!

You can follow your ducks at https://www.balloonrace.net/ducks/

Best of luck in the race. 

Regards. 
Test Ducks Race Team.

Confirmation email.

It’s expensive to make these tweaks so I plan to slowly remove the balloon references over 2024 (if a duck race has been selected).

Update March 2025 - The final changes on the home page have been the completed:

"The balloons cost £3" has been changed to "The ducks cost £3" and we now have "Looking for a Duck?" and "Find my Duck":


You can setup a duck race here.