Are You Asking For A Challenge?

Some people can run long distances. Some people consume large amounts of food. Only a select few can do both simultaneously.

This event was created for those people.

In Raleigh, N.C., on the campus of North Carolina State University, the students have this tradition. Run two miles to the local Krispy Kreme doughnuts, eat a dozen doughnuts and, here's the tricky part, run back.

All in under an hour.

Only on a college campus could something like this be imagined, and actually accomplished.

Apparently, the feat started back in 2004 as a dare between a handful of friends. Since that time, the event has reached cult status and drawn national attention.

Feb. 7, 2009 marked the fifth anniversary. A crowd of over 5,ooo participants merited the introduction of a micro-chip timing system to cut down on confusion. Each participant is given a bracket with a chip that alerts a computer when the runner crosses the finish line.

According to those results, 1,096 people completed the race under the specified hour. The other 3,004 all fell asleep at mile three.

The winner in 2009 finished in just over 28 minutes. That is faster than some people can flat out run four miles, much less trying to do so with 12 pastries settling between their ribs.

For an entry fee of $16.96, the participant gets a t-shirt, a dozen doughnuts, and a stomach ache. Thankfully, the remainder of proceeds go towards the North Carolina Children's Hospital. This year's race donated over $35,000.

Perhaps the most insightful investment was providing large garbage cans along the entire length of the race, in case a few of those glazed treats wanted to see the light of day again at some point during the turbulence.

This is both adding to and subtracting from America's problem in obesity, so that at least we come out even in the end.