Raleigh’s offbeat Krispy Kreme Challenge goes virtual, offering more safety, less vomit
As the nation’s most eccentric race, the Krispy Kreme Challenge regularly sprays Raleigh’s streets with sweat, spit and pieces of half-digested doughnut — all pandemic no-nos.
So this year, the city’s signature goof-off athletic event for charity is going virtual. Anyone in any city worldwide is invited to jog 5 miles and scarf a dozen glazed in less than an hour.
This means far fewer people dashing down Raleigh’s Peace Street in their Speedos with inner tubes around their waists and WOLFPACK painted on their chests.
It also means far less vomit.
“I think it will still be fun,” said Sydney McCoy, an organizer for the annual run. “This is obviously something that is a big tradition. It honestly has gone across the whole nation and around the globe.
“We can’t come together, but I think it’s going to add a whole new element of people running it in New York or around the world.”
The carb-loading race started in 2004 when roughly a dozen students made the first attempt from N.C. State University’s Bell Tower to Krispy Kreme at the corner of Peace and Person streets. (Minus the student who thought it up but mistakenly overslept.) They each ate a dozen doughnuts, then ran back to the Bell Tower.
Thus begun a fund-raising tradition. Last year, more than 5,000 people made the run up Peace Street, dressed as bananas or Forrest Gump, consuming more than 2,000 calories each and raising $175,000 for UNC Children’s Hospital.
This year’s online race asks runners in Raleigh or anywhere else to register here: krispykremechallenge.com. The racers’ donations again benefit the children’s hospital in Chapel Hill.
But once you’ve signed up, there’s no reason to rise at dawn on Saturday wearing skivvies and an Aquaman cape.
Runners can run the traditional route anytime between Saturday and Feb. 13. They make up their own routes: between the Empire State Building and Central Park, between the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower or between Knightdale and Wendell.
Organizers ask runners to contribute pictures and video of outlandish costumes and exotic locales.
Send those to @krispykremechallenge on Instagram and @k2challenge on Twitter.
All entrants get a Krispy Kreme voucher, so there should be a doughnut shop somewhere along way.
And, in keeping with tradition, somewhere to discreetly deposit a barf bag.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Raleigh’s offbeat Krispy Kreme Challenge goes virtual, offering more safety, less vomit."