Krispy Kreme Challenge synopsis

Yesterday I ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge. I actually completed the challenge. The challenge is to run from the NC State belltower to the Krispy Kreme in downtown Raleigh, eat a dozen donuts, and run back in an hour. I didn't have a time goal, I just wanted to finish in under an hour, and I finished in 57:33. For those of you keeping track, 12 donuts is 2400 calories, while 4 miles is 400-600 calories, depending on how much you weigh and what not.

Is this country great or what?

I saw:
- Elvis
- 3 people with T-shirts that said POLICE on the front and had the Krispy kreme logo on the back. They offered to give Elvis a police escort during the race.
- NC State ROTC? Some group of guys doing army chants. On the way to KK it was stuff like "pin my medal to my chest." On the way back, it was stuff like "cold beer."
- At least 15 people with those floaties that fit around your waist and/or inner tubes, decorated like doughnuts.
- Flash Gordon
- Spiderman
- Batman
- Wonder Woman
- some guy with a toolbelt. He had a cutting board on the back of it. I was looking at slideshows later and I saw him cutting up donuts into little pieces on the toolbelt
- 2 prom queens. One of them let out the loudest burp I've ever heard after eating 4-5 donuts. The entire crowd around her applauded.
- a homeless person
- doctors in lab coats
- two guys pushing another in a shopping cart
- a cow
- a Santa with an absolutely enormous orange foam cowboy hat
- 4 guys in a Viking ship
- The Blues Brothers
- The ESPN reporter (who was in a suit also, wearing sneakers). A golf cart was in front of him with his camera crew and what not.
- The Associated Press reporter who covered the race was right behind me while eating the donuts. She got a quote from Sam Lee, who was sitting in front of me eating.
- a chicken
- at least 2 guys wearing nothing but a Speedo
- there were reports of a guy in a gorilla costume but I didn't see.

And for some reason people that didn't want to eat all dozen, runners in the "casual" category, were running back with their box of donuts. Huh? It's not like they are that expensive. Go get some later, whey the are HOT and haven't been sitting out on a table in front of Krispy Kreme getting cold.

For the record, I only saw one person vomit, although there was more on the road. There was a lot less puking that I thought there would be, and apparently everyone noticed it. Last year 1 in 4 threw up. This year was a lot less, and most people are attributing this to the fact that a KK donut doesn't have any trans fat in it now but did last year.

Tips if you plan to run the race in the future:
- The course is pretty hilly, especially coming back.
- According to the website it's 2 miles from the belltower to the Krispy Kreme, but my Garmin says 2.2-2.3. This is important if time is an issue if you ever want to complete the challenge.
- I saw a lot of techniques to eat the donuts. Some poured water in the box of donuts to soften them up and remove as much glaze as possible. Some dunked pieces of donut in water to accomplish the same.
- Most people compacted the donuts in order to eat multiple at once. I found eating 2 at a time very effective. The donuts weren't compacted so much that you had to chew a lot. They were still enough air you didn't have to chew as much and could just swallow. I mean, there are pictures of people that smushed 8 donuts together. OK...
- sip water
- make sure you sit up so you can belch up any air you swallow with the donut

Fallout:
- thinking of donuts makes me ill