Krispy Kreme Challenge
Encyclopedia
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
s (totaling 2,400 calories and 144 grams of fat), and run back to the finish line. It is held at a few different college-towns, most notably at North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
N.C.
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, and Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
in Tallahassee
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
F.L.
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. All profits are donated to the race's designated charity. At NC State, the money is donated to North Carolina Children's Hospital
UNC Hospitals
Founded as North Carolina Memorial Hospital, UNC Health Care is a non-profit medical system owned by the State of North Carolina and primarily located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It was organized in 1952 as the medical school of the University of North Carolina...
. To complete the Krispy Kreme Challenge, participants start at the iconic NC State Belltower on Hillsborough Street
Hillsborough Street
Hillsborough Street is a prominent business and cultural thoroughfare through Raleigh, North Carolina. The street serves as a center for social life among North Carolina State University students. Nearby Meredith College students also frequent the street's area businesses...
, run two miles to the Krispy Kreme store of Raleigh, eat one dozen doughnut
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
s, and run back to the Belltower, all under 1 hour. At Florida State University, the race circles from the Westcott Fountain to Doak S. Campbell Stadium, where participants eat their doughnuts, and back to Westcott, the finish line. The FSU race follows similar rules to the N.C. State run. Proceeds are donated to United Way of America.
The Krispy Kreme Challenge is not affiliated with the Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme is the name of an international chain of doughnut stores that was founded by Vernon Rudolph in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The parent company of Krispy Kreme is Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc...
company.
History
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. 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. In actuality, McCoy claims to have been sick and chose not to attend in the morning.2006
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.2007
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.Over 1,500 students and members of the Raleigh community showing up to participate. Over 1,000 dozen doughnuts were made and distributed by the Krispy Kreme store and over 450 people successfully finished the Challenge. NC State Chancellor James Oblinger blew the starting whistle. NC State undergrad Auburn Staples took first place with a time of 24 minutes, 31 seconds. This remains the fastest winning time ever registered for the event, but since both the physical route and the race logistics have been altered on several occasions, performances are not necessarily comparable from year to year. Notable 2007 participants included a member of the NC State Board of Trustees, the Student body president
Student body president
The President of the Student Government is the highest ranking officer of a student government or student union association on the high school, college, or university level...
, a man dressed as Elvis, a pair of pirates riding a shopping cart, people on rollerblades, and an engineering student who custom-fabricated a pair of crutches (with old shoes for tips) in order to participate. The latter completed the course in 1 hour, 9 minutes.
Approximately $10,300 was raised for the North Carolina Children's Hospital. The event received widespread press coverage, being featured on the front page of the City & State section of Raleigh's The News & Observer
The News & Observer
The News & Observer is the regional daily newspaper of the Research Triangle area of the U.S. State of North Carolina. The N&O, as it is popularly called, is based in Raleigh and also covers Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. The paper also has substantial readership in most of the state east of...
, local TV stations, and radio stations.
Top 5 Finishers
Place — Name — Time- Auburn Staples — 24:31
- Eric Mack — 24:57
- Mike Aldrink — 28:43
- Nicholas Lehman — 29:19
- Robert Howell — 29:29
2008
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
were trucked in to meet the day's demands. As noted on the Krispy Kreme Challenge website, the results were as follows:
Top 10 Finishers
Place — Name — Time- Philip Curley — 31:20
- Bradley Belifore — 31:35
- Auburn Staples — 31:50
- Bobby Mills — 32:10
- Jamie Barnes — 33:18
- Patrick Quinn — 33:45
- Andy Lanier — 34:24
- John Ellis — 35:29
- Nicholas Lehman — 35:34
- Andrew Misenheimer — 35:40
Top Female Finishers
Place — Name — Time- Laura Eynon — 39:00
- Dee Baker — 41:00
- Sarah Mulikins — 42:00
2009
The fifth Krispy Kreme Challenge was on February 7, 2009 and drew 5519 participants. The race had caught the eye of ESPN, which sent a reporter to cover and run in 2009 . ESPN featured the "most difficult road race in the country" on SportsCenterand on its website.
Eric Mack, an NC State senior in natural resources and a member of the cross country team, finished first in just over 28 minutes.
This years race was also the first KKC to use a chip timing system. Before the race, runners were given ankle bracelets with chips embedded in them. As the runners crossed the finish line, sensors picked up radio signals emitted by the chips and automatically recorded their time.
More than 5,500 participants took part in the student-run event this year, raising $35,000 for North Carolina Children's Hospital. In addition to the ESPN stories, newspapers across the country picked up the Associated Press story about the event on Sunday, under the headline: "Glazed and Confused Run Krispy Kreme Challenge."
Fitzgerald said organizers may have to limit the number of runners to about 6,500 next year.
"We're hitting a physical space barrier," he said. "There's not much more we can do down at the Krispy Kreme store, and we're already shutting down some of the biggest roads in Raleigh."
Logistically, the race runs smoothly, he said, but there's not much anyone can do to get participants to eat 12 doughnuts any faster.
Costumes were popular, with several students arriving as their favorite superheroes, others dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Dr. Seuss books, and more than one person dressed as a cup of coffee and a doughnut. One participant even completed the challenge wearing a full gorilla suit.
Cindy Barbour, who was 42 years old and from Greensboro, was the first woman to finish the race. Among the first 500 finishers there was only one person over the age of 60.
2010
The sixth Krispy Kreme Challenge was held on February 6, 2010. Due to space limitations, the number of challengers was limited to 6000.Top 10 Successful Male Challengers
Place — Name — Time- Reese Wells — 30:20
- Eric Turk — 32:01
- Brian Fowler — 32:06
- Michael C. Jones — 32:06
- Stuart Chandler — 32:41
- Matt Jordan — 33:03
- John Stevens — 33:09
- Charlie Trakas — 33:29
- Philip Curley — 33:36
- Mike Combs — 33:49
2010 was also marked by the launch of a new website for the Krispy Kreme Challenge. SkyBound Designs, the official media sponsor for the race, contributed the custom website, which integrates race registration, email marketing and merchant processing. NC State alumni Kyle Held and Albert Blackmon lead development after recognizing the challenges of administering such a large event from year to year, especially with revolving leadership.
Other doughnut challenge races
On May 19, 2009, students at the University of Kansas ran the first ever Muncher's 5K race. Similar to the Krispy Kreme Challenge at North Carolina State, students from KU started the race at the Campanile bell tower, ran to Muncher's bakery where they consumed one dozen donuts each, and ran back.Florida State University is hosting their Third Annual Krispy Kreme Challenge on Saturday, February 4th, 2012. A student-operated event, the University hosted their first Krispy Kreme Challenge on Saturday, January 23, 2010; and their second on Saturday, February 5th, 2011. The race uses the same rules as the original challenge, with proceeds going to the United Way. The race has garnered thousands of total participants and has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the local community. The 2012 race boasts a cutting-edge ticketing system created by web developer Larry Weru.
The University of Kentucky hosted their own version of the Krispy Kreme Challenge on April 17, 2010 with over 300 participants. The 5K race started and ended at Commonwealth football stadium with a dozen doughnuts being eaten at the halfway point. Proceeds from the annual event go to Habitat for Humanity which benefits the Lexington area.
External links
- Krispy Kreme Challenge website
- Krispy Kreme Challenge 2006 Video, by David Cosgrove
- "A daunting dozen", by NC State campus newspaper the Technician
- "Doughnut drives unique competition", by NC State campus newspaper the Technician
- ESPN reporter runs Krispy Kreme Challenge in 2009
- SportsCenter feature on the Krispy Kreme Challenge in 2009