Krispy Kreme Challenge
| Krispy Kreme Challenge | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Raleigh, NC |
| Event type | road |
| Distance | 5 miles (8.0 km) |
| Beneficiary | North Carolina Children's Hospital |
| Established | 2004 |
| Official site | Official website |
The Krispy Kreme Challenge is an annual charity event in which participants run a 2.5 mile road course leading to a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shop, eat one dozen doughnuts (totaling 2,400 calories and 144 grams of fat), and run back to the finish line in under 1 hour. The event was started in 2004 and is still planned and executed by Park Scholars at North Carolina State University in Raleigh N.C.. Profits from the race are donated to North Carolina Children's Hospital, and the 2014 race brought total donations to $758,000. The Krispy Kreme Challenge is not affiliated with the Krispy Kreme company.
In December 2004, about a dozen friends gathered in the morning at the Belltower to try the challenge, which had begun as a college dare. Park Scholar Sophomore Ben Gaddy completed the race in 34 minutes, 27 seconds. After receiving positive coverage in the campus newspaper and profiled as #85 on the "102 More Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate" by Sports Illustrated:On Campus, the event organizers decided to publicize the Krispy Kreme Challenge and turn it into a charity fundraising event. NC State basketball player Chris McCoy is credited with dreaming up the event but it was published that he overslept that morning and did not attend.
The 2nd Annual Krispy Kreme Challenge took place in January 2006. The turnout was much larger than the organizers had expected. Over 150 runners participated, with at least 40 runners completing the challenge. The fastest time was set by graduate student Edwin Barry, with a time of 29 minutes, 02 seconds. The event raised $800 for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital.
Race participation in 2007 grew nearly tenfold. It was held on January 27 and, for the first time, significant planning went into the race. Contacts were made in the local running community of Raleigh, such as with the Raleigh Running Outfitters store owned by Jim Micheels. Sponsorships were also sought out in both money and prize donations. In contrast to the heat system used in the previous year, all the runners were to be released at the same time. This required the roads to be closed off and supervised by the Raleigh Police Department. New participant types were created, such as the "casual runner" and "observer" categories. This was done to accommodate interested people who wanted to participate but not eat the full dozen doughnuts.
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