Story by Mark McFarland, Assistant Sports Editor
Doughnuts and running are two things that never go together, but for a few Murray State students and one graduate, it made perfect sense.
Last Saturday, senior Lucas Prather and a few of his teammates from the cross-country team competed and finished second in the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prather said that it was a great time to go out there and have some fun.
“It was kind of cool,” Prather said. “We didn’t know what to expect, but as a team we finished second. There were over 7,000 runners.”
This year’s challenge was the 12th annual challenge in which all the proceeds go to the children’s hospital in Raleigh. Prather said that it was a cool experience but the race itself was interesting.
“The way the challenge works is you run two and a half miles, eat a dozen doughnuts as fast as you can and then run back,” Prather said. “You start on the campus of North Carolina State and then you run to the Krispy Kreme store, they hand you 12 doughnuts, you eat them then run back.”
The ‘bronuts’ held their second place trophy in Raleigh, North Carolina last Saturday, Feb. 6.
Being the seasoned runners they are, Prather and his teammates had heard of this challenge before. Prather said the challenge is a huge deal for runners and is a chance for them to give back to the community.
“It’s a huge charity event,” Prather said. “We’ve heard of it for years, but we finally just pulled the trigger and went for it. It was a pretty exciting day.”
According to the challenge website, the 12 doughnuts that each runner must eat equals 2,400 calories.
The racers must then run another two and a half miles after eating that to finish the race.
Sophomore Gavin Galanes was able to finish 10th in the race with a time of 34 minutes 46 seconds. Prather said they went on their own without any help from the university.
Prather also said if anyone wants to get involved in next year’s race or other upcoming races to Google the Krispy Kreme Challenge.
“We definitely want to go back to it,” Prather said. “It was a cool event. They don’t take anything: all the proceeds go to the children’s hospital.”