The Krispy Kreme Challenge is a charity run held every year in downtown Raleigh. Each year, the race attracts participants from all over the country and even a few from our William Peace University community.
Participants in the race start at the Bell Tower, located directly on Hillsborough street at the heart of NC State University’s campus. It follows a 2.5 mile course to Krispy Kreme on Person Street. Once they reach the Krispy Kreme destination, the runners consume a dozen donuts and make their way back to the Bell Tower.
Sydney Melchert, who graduated from WPU this past spring, ran the race for the first time over the weekend. After weeks of training, Melchert decided she was ready for the run–but the donuts, not so much.
“Running the Krispy Kreme Challenge was so much fun,” Melchert said. “It’s crazy to think that something that started off as a bet among students at NC State has become such an amazing fundraising opportunity.”
Melchert finished in 1272th place out of 2626 participants with a time of 01:02:35. She commented that eating a dozen donuts in under ten minutes was the hardest part of the race but it was all for a good cause.
All of the profits from the race are donated to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital. Since the first official race in 2006, the Krispy Kreme Challenge has raised over a million dollars for their philanthropy.
The idea of the race came from a dozen of NC State students, who ran the course and completed the challenge as a dare in 2004. They dreamed of turning their challenge into a charitable event and in 2006 they made their first donation to the NC Children’s Hospital after the second annual event.
The event is planned by the Park Scholars at North Carolina State University each year.
For more information about the Krispy Kreme Challenge, you can visit their website at krispykremechallenge.com.