Saturday will mark the 14th annual Krispy Kreme Challenge (K2C), an NC State student tradition designed to test a participant’s body in more ways than one. For those unaware, K2C is a five-mile charity race benefiting the UNC Children’s Hospital. Students race 2.5 miles from the Belltower to the Krispy Kreme at 549 N. Person St. Once there, race challengers are required to eat a dozen doughnuts before they begin the return trip back to campus.
NC State students and nonstudents alike will line up across Hillsborough Street to wait for this year’s 8 a.m. start. Once the race begins, contestants will travel east down the empty street towards an eventual turn onto S. Salisbury Street. Runners eventually return to the Belltower from Hillsborough Street to end the race, this time filled with 2,400 calories worth of doughnuts, assuming they haven’t puked along the way.
Strategies for woofing down the 12 doughnuts vary across runners. Shaian Lashani, a third-year studying human-biology and the marketing director for this year’s K2C, has run the race three times. As he prepares for his fourth time participating in the challenge, Lashani has his own strategy for finishing the doughnuts.
“One of the funniest places to watch it [the race] is at the Krispy Kreme watching the different things people are doing to try and get their doughnuts down,” Lashani said. “My personal strategy is I do it groups of four, squishing them [the doughnuts] as tight as I can together to try and get it down.”
Hillsborough Street does not reopen until 11 a.m., which gives slower runners plenty of time to finish. This year’s race has a slightly modified race route to avoid some construction farther down Hillsborough Street. Hannah Caison, one of the four race directors and a third-year studying industrial engineering, said race organizers tried to keep route changes to a minimum in order to not alter the five mile race length or create more elevation changes during the race.
For those who want to run, but don’t want to eat all of the doughnuts, there are several different options for registering. Runners can choose between the challenger, casual and no doughnut options. A challenger is expected to eat the full dozen doughnuts while the casual runner can choose to eat as many or as few doughnuts as they want and the no doughnut runner can avoid this sugar-filled step all together. Tickets to race currently cost $45 online, no matter which category you choose. Same-day registration will be available at the race for $50.
K2C is organized entirely by volunteer NC State students. Originally, the event was run exclusively by members of the Park Scholar program, but that has since changed. Now, all positions within the organization are open to all students.
Caison said the organization has around 90 members, which includes four race directors, 10 department heads overseeing committees dedicated to different tasks and the members of those committees. Race directors and department heads apply and are chosen following the previous year’s race. These students begin planning for their race very quickly after a Krispy Kreme Challenge. In the fall, the organization hosts interest meetings to fill their committees.
“Working with the organization on race day is a really special feeling,” Caison said. “Seeing all of these people in this huge organization come together to make everything happen […] it’s really cool to see students working together like that. After my first year [volunteering], I was hooked.”
Last year’s race raised $190,000. If you are interested in helping with the race, but don’t want to wait until the next one, you can contact the organization through its website.
“You can volunteer to be someone on race day that helps make sure the race runs smoothly,” Lashani said. “We usually need around 120-150 race day volunteers.”
Over 6,900 participants showed up to the 2017 Krispy Kreme Challenge on Feb. 4, 2017, to show their support to the UNC Children's Hospital. The race starts at the Memorial Belltower on the campus of NC State where participants then run to Krispy Kreme, eat a dozen doughnuts, and run back to the Belltower, a 5-mile trek in total. Having begun as a dare between undergraduate students in 2004, the event has grown to be a well-known event in the city of Raleigh, placing 85th on the list of "102 More Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate" by Sports Illustrated.
