not up to the challenge

[lauradi7dw]

There is an annual fund-raising race in Raleigh, NC (25 miles from my parents' house).  There are two tracks - the Challenger track and the casual runner track (the runners are in the street together).  To complete the challenge, one runs 2.5 miles, gets a box of a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and runs 2.5 miles back to the start.  The five miles must be run and all dozen consumed in under an hour.    The casual competitor doesn't have to eat all (or any) of the carbs and can run slower than that.  This doesn't seem to be health-promoting behavior, so there was a big controversy when the North Carolina Children's Hospital was about to name one of their clinics the Krispy Kreme Challenge Children's Specialty clinic.  This was not to encourage children to eat junk food, but rather in recognition of the fact that in a little over ten years, the race has donated a million dollars to the hospital.  People on both sides expressed outrage, but it eased a bit when it was revealed that Krispy Kreme (the company) has not sponsored or donated - the doughnuts used in the race are bought with race fees. They'll come up with a different name that still recognizes the runners' donations. At any rate, it has gone from a sort of jokey beginning with a few participants to a big deal race, and it turned up in a book I read of "bucket list" races.  I considered it, rejected the idea, considered it again.  To do it this year would have involved expensive plane ticket changes.  To make myself feel better about not taking part, I decided to do a trial run, with fewer donuts.  During my regular run with a friend yesterday, we went a little over three miles and then I got out the three KKs I had brought back from NC the last time I visited by parents (earlier in the week).  My vague plan was to run one minute, wolf down a doughnut while walking, and then repeat.  It actually took 1.7 miles (about 20 minutes at our casual pace) to eat three doughtnuts, chewing while walking and jogging both, because the walk break wasn't long enough to get in all in.  I chewed, rather than trying to swallow pieces whole.  I felt OK at the end, but clearly I couldn't fit everything in during the required time.  I tried one more doughnut while sitting at a table, watching a timer.  It took me almost a minute (eating steadily, but actually chewing and such), not even trying to cover any distance. I think most people try to eat the whole dozen at the half-way point, rather than trying to carry the box and eat some all along.  Or maybe the best way would be to run a very fast race carrying the box and stop a few feet before the end, and then chomp them all down.  To be able to do this in 2017, I'd have to really pick up a lot of speed and possibly do some speed eating training.  Probably better just to donate. http://www.krispykremechallenge.com/