A total of 6,000 runners took to the streets of Raleigh on Saturday, February 6 to take part in the annual Krispy Kreme Challenge. In one hour, brave participants ran two miles to the Krispy Kreme store on Peace Street, consumed a dozen doughnuts and ran an additional two miles back to the NC State campus. The event generated a record $50,000 which will be presented to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital.

Now in its sixth year, the event was initiated by a group of Park Scholars from the Class of 2007: Ben Gaddy, Peyton Hassinger, Chris McCoy, Greg Mulholland and Saket Vora.

This year, Park Scholars Kalie Porterfield ‘11 and Logan Dawson ‘12, along with fellow NC State student Jake Lloyd, served as co-chairs for the event. “Organizing the Krispy Kreme Challenge was the most daunting leadership role I have taken on thus far, but the experience taught me things I can take with me and apply to anything I pursue in the future,” says Porterfield.

The co-chairs agreed that this year’s race would not have run as smoothly as it did without the dedication of many volunteers and committee members, including the following committee heads: Rachel Conley ‘12, Rebekah Jewell ‘12, Stephanie Leyrer ‘12, Monica Martin ‘10, Trey Mullikin ‘12, Rachel Turner ‘12 and John Yanik ‘12.

“We established good relationships with our partners and sponsors this year, and I believe we are moving towards making the Krispy Kreme Challenge a more sustainable and long-term endeavor,” says Dawson. “I love this race, and I would love to see this NC State tradition continue for years to come.”

SkyBound Designs was the official media sponsor of the 2010 Krispy Kreme Challenge. This year’s contribution included a custom website built by the company, a tool which will save the Krispy Kreme Challenge over $20,000 per year in marketing and administrative costs. Park alumni Kyle Held ‘09 and Albert Blackmon ‘08 of SkyBound Designs were key in developing this new technology and providing this generous support to the race.

Click here for additional information about the event: Krispy Kreme Challenge