When my alarm went off at 6:45 a.m., all I wanted to do was pull my covers back up and continue sleeping. But I had heard plenty of rumors about the consequences of getting there late or right on time. At the very back of the line, it takes you five minutes to cross the starting line. I’m a very competitive person, so I did not want that to happen to me for my first Krispy Kreme Challenge.

I got to the starting line with 30 minutes until race time. I went with some friends, and we were about 20 yards from the big “Start” sign. It was 36 degrees, my clothes were already soaking wet from the relentless rain, my hair was drenched and my fingers and toes were close to chipping right off.  

There were already thousands of people lined up behind us. The rain kept coming down, but luckily we made friends with someone who had an umbrella.  As I stood there wearing my three layers of clothing, the goose bumps on the exposed skin of these crazy kids in front of me,  wearing almost nothing, was clearly visible. I could not imagine what it would be like to run without a shirt on in that weather, or even barefoot like the guy who wore the doughnut on top of his head.

Five minutes until race time, I started getting anxious. My goal was to either eat 12 doughnuts or finish in less than an hour.  If I could do both, even better. I estimated that it would take me about 20 minutes to run the two miles (because of all the people), 20 minutes to eat the dozen donuts, and 20 minutes to run back. Boy was I wrong.

I sloshed through the first two miles with no problem, perfectly on time like I hoped. The line to get the doughnuts slowed me down. All I could think about was how hungry I was and how tasty and warm the sugary treats would be. I was wrong about that too. As I opened the box, water spilled out the side. They were soggy and cold.

At doughnut No. 6 I started feeling like 12 was not going to happen. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. But I signed up to be a challenger, so I was going to eat as many as possible.

I got to doughnut No. 9, and my stomach was about to explode. With 17 minutes to get to the finish line, I made an executive decision and passed on finishing all the doughnuts, electing to try and accomplish at least one of my goals –finishing in less than an hour.

The two miles back were steep, uphill and much harder with cramps in my side. In my delirious state of runner’s adrenaline and sugar overdose from the doughnuts, signs like “Donut stop believing” made me laugh out loud, but were also somewhat motivating.

When I finally sprinted across the finish line, my watch read 59:53. Awesome, I just made it. I could smell vomit, but at the time, I barely cared, the only thing on my mind at that point in time, was a hot 30-minute shower and a two hour nap, so I immediately headed straight to my dorm.

I finished as the 694th female, which I thought was pretty good considering there were about 7,500 registered people there.

I’ll never look at a doughnut the same way again. I wanted to do this challenge before I graduated. With one of two objections complete, I have not yet decided if I will come back next year to finish the job. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.