Technician has been running for nearly 100 years, with the first issue published on Feb. 1, 1920. Throughout the years, NC State has seen many different events, from great successes to terrible tragedies and everything in-between. Time, and language itself, has changed over the years, but for almost every major event, Technician was there.
On Saturday, students, faculty and local doughnut race enthusiasts will participate in the Krispy Kreme Challenge, a five-mile race broken in half by the consumption of a dozen glazed pastries. Before it attracted thousands of racers and raised over $1 million for the UNC Children’s Hospital, the Krispy Kreme Challenge was a bet made between a few Park Scholars and their friends.
Since the first race was only between a dozen students, it did not make the Technician’s headlines. However, two years later, the second and much larger race was covered. On Jan. 23, 2006, under the headline “a daunting dozen,” Technician ran its first coverage of the Krispy Kreme Challenge. It started with a description of runners:
“His head dipped, as if giving into a bout of deep contemplation, and the asphalt below him blurred out of focus. There in the Krispy Kreme parking lot, his jaw slackened from consuming one doughnut after another, a pool of syrupy saliva lingered and leaked from off its precipice. His face bore the conflicted expression of sickness, frustration, bemusement and desire. This was the face of the 2006 Krispy Kreme Challenge and it haunted customers and competitors alike.”
The article went on to describe the pre-race anxiety as “so thick you could taste it.” The article also reported on the race’s success at raising over $800 for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital and the winning runner Edwin Barry, who clocked in at 29:02.
The next race, on Jan. 27, 2007, was covered in Technician’s Monday paper two days later under the headline “The voracious, the victorious and the vomiting.” According to the article, 1341 people participated in the third Krispy Kreme Challenge, and at least one of those participates raced while injured.
“Place, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, came in at a time of 1:09:39, and even though Place didn’t quite make the time limit of under an hour, he had something else to brag about — he finished the Krispy Kreme Challenge on crutches.”
Other interesting tidbits from the article included the finishing time, at 24:32, and the emergence of several now well-known tricks for consuming the doughnuts like smashing them together and dumping them in water.
A few races later, the Krispy Kreme Challenge was in full swing. In 2010, despite snow flurries in the air, the challenge saw 6000 registered racers. On Feb. 8, 2010, Technician ran the article “Krispy Kreme Challengers eat donuts to help kids.”
“Saturday morning the area surrounding the Belltower was glazed over with anxious runners as they prepared to inhale a dozen doughnuts.”
Puns aside, the sixth Krispy Kreme Challenge saw some controversy as both the top male and female runners were disqualified. The male runner reportedly failed to present his empty doughnut box during the race, meaning he was unable to prove he had eaten the full dozen. The first place female winner was also disqualified after it was revealed she was running under a friend’s race bib. The official winners came in at 30:20 (male) and 35:20 (female).
Last February saw the 12th annual Krispy Kreme Challenge, and while it raised a staggering $195,000 for UNC Children’s Hospital, it was also struck by tragedy when a 58-year-old male participate in the race died due to heart complications after running in the first mile of the race.
Technician asks that all participants racing Saturday remember to watch their health before, during and after the race as the Krispy Kreme Challenge can be strenuous on one’s body. For more on the Krispy Kreme Challenge, check back on the Technician’s website over the weekend and read Monday’s paper.
