Krispy Kreme Challenge runners down the doughnuts | News & Observer

Braving sub-freezing temperatures and an ominous mountain of doughnuts, a horde of runners tackled the Krispy Kreme Challenge Saturday.

Thousands of gluttons, er, athletes, made their way from N.C. State University’s Memorial Belltower, down a frigid Hillsborough Street toward the Krispy Kreme shop on the corner of Peace and Person streets. There, each runner set about consuming a dozen glazed, which adds up to 2,400 light-as-a-feather calories.

Then, the belly-torturing run back to the belltower, all within an hour. There are no winners and losers here, only survivors.

The five-mile race is one of downtown Raleigh’s most colorful spectacles – a hilariously absurd feat that has become a must-do on the checklist for NCSU students before they graduate.

It’s also a really good deed.

Last year, the race brought in $190,000 for UNC Children’s Hospital, bringing the total raised since 2004 to $1.35 million.