The Krispy Kreme Challenge is an integral part of the NC State experience to many students, with over 90,000 participants, and over a million donuts downed, since 2004. After two years of remote races, the challenge hopes to return in full force Feb. 4 for its 19th year in operation.
Sydney McCoy, a fourth-year studying communication media, is the fundraising, merchandise and public relations director of the Krispy Kreme Challenge. McCoy said the event was founded by a group of Park Scholars in 2004, first as a challenge among friends.
“Our slogan is ‘12 donuts, five miles in one hour,’” McCoy said. “The challenge is you have to start at the Belltower, run to the Krispy Kreme on Peace Street, eat a dozen donuts and run back in under an hour.”
McCoy said there are multiple tiers to the challenge, varying in levels of difficulty.
“The big thing is you don’t have to eat all the donuts, you don’t have to do it within an hour,” McCoy said. “You can take the donuts and walk back with them; you can bring them home, you don’t even have to eat the donuts, you can certainly just run.”
Last year, the race raised $92,000 and completed the organization’s $2 million pledge, making the Krispy Kreme Challenge the largest unrestricted donor of the UNC Children’s Hospital. Donations opened the NC State Park Scholars Children’s Specialty Care Program in Raleigh.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Krispy Kreme Challenge was modified to be done remotely the past two years. The challenge provided participants with vouchers for donuts and allowed participation worldwide.
“With it being virtual for the past few years, we’ve actually had a lot of runners compete, and do the challenge all over the world,” McCoy said. “That’s one thing that was cool, although, of course, we would love to be in person, having that ability to be virtual and see the commitment and the impact that this challenge has made globally.”
NC State alum Robert Bridges participated in the remote race last year. He said he and three friends ran their five miles on the American Tobacco Trail.
“A lot of my friends say that the Krispy Kreme Challenge is kind of a rite of passage for an NC State student,” Bridges said. “I’m not going to say I hate donuts. So combining two things that I liked was a lot of fun.”
Although eating the 12 donuts is optional, Bridges said he feels that it provides an authentic experience.
“Even if you walk, make sure you eat the 12 donuts,” Bridges said. “If you don’t eat all 12, it doesn’t count in my book. But besides that, just have fun using this community-building experience.”
Bridges said serious contenders like himself and his friends adopted strategies to make the most out of their attempts, such as wiping the sugar off of the donuts or dipping them in water.
“Eating the donuts is the hardest part,” Bridges said. “You’ve got to try a lot of ways to get the sugar off because there’s just too much sugar. I will say the sugar ended up giving me a little bit of a boost of energy; I ran two minutes per mile faster for the last two and a half miles.”
The Krispy Kreme Challenge is internationally recognized, boasting a place on Denise Malan’s “The Runner’s Bucket List: 200 Races to Run Before You Die” and was ranked No. 85 on “101 More Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate” by Sports Illustrated.
McCoy said it is important to take a step back and look at the impact the event has had leading up to its 20th anniversary next year.
“It’s almost as old as we are — the students that are going here now,” McCoy said. “It is really special to see a lot of times when we have open house events. … There were parents that had come up like, ‘oh, I ran this back when I was in college,’ and now their kid is a potential student … being so old, you can start to see this legacy that it’s leaving behind.”
The Krispy Kreme Challenge will take place Feb. 4 from 8-10 a.m. Registration can be completed from the organization’s website.
