4

1/25/2007 6:45:17 PM

I'm so jealous I won't be able to make it out there Saturday.

1/25/2007 7:06:02 PM

won't be able to run, but i might come out to watch the start.

1/25/2007 7:07:55 PM

wtf? didn't the specifically say that they would be capping it at 1000 this year?

1/25/2007 8:15:10 PM

Somebody forgot to put the limit in place on the registration link. There are going to be at least 52 disappointed people.

1/25/2007 10:25:27 PM

I'm not running... I'm not even in the state... but can I get a t-shirt even though its capped?

1/25/2007 10:39:08 PM

They only ordered 1000, so no. Why would you want a shirt?

1/25/2007 10:42:13 PM

Sorry everyone, I should have updated it.

Due to high demand, we went ahead and ordered 500 more t-shirts.

We just had a meeting about it tonight.

Capping registrants at 1500 or Friday 9pm, whichever comes first.
After that, you can register for a t-shirt but that's it.

There comes a point in which if we have too many people, it's going to get too insane for people to have a good time. You all are surprising us with how strongly you're embracing this event. Next year we know what to expect and we'll be bigger than ever.

1/25/2007 11:19:21 PM

why wouldn't you want a shirt? If I was there, I would be going. I think this is a great tradition and I want a souviner.

1/26/2007 12:08:04 AM

Quote :

"There comes a point in which if we have too many people, it's going to get too insane for people to have a good time. You all are surprising us with how strongly you're embracing this event. Next year we know what to expect and we'll be bigger than ever."

Is it not already to this point? And are they still going to do the thing where they start all the 'extra krispy' at the same time? Over like half the people who registered are registered as that. I do not see how this will logistically work.

The parking lot was crowded last year and people didn't get their donuts on time with 250 people running that were spaced out into different heats. Now you have 594 people who you told that you would run in a single heat. Can all of these people even fit outside the store?!

I mean, I'm going to have a good time and all, but it seems clear that it's not going to go smoothly.

1/26/2007 10:08:16 AM

not to be pessimistic, but it's only a matter of time before this gets shut down by the university (too many people are starting to enjoy it)

1/26/2007 11:04:14 AM

^^I thought he said everyone shooting for <35 were starting in the front. I'm an extra krispy but probably wouldn't pull off 35, so I'm not gonna start in the front. I imagine there will be a lot of people in the same boat.

1/26/2007 11:19:42 AM

i hate running in the cold, but sat might be warmer.... i might do this...

1/26/2007 12:44:36 PM

Quote :

"I mean, I'm going to have a good time and all, but it seems clear that it's not going to go smoothly."

mrfrog, myself and fellow organizers have been thinking about this Challenge since November. We've spent well over 40 hours this past week and half working on getting this event ready (in addition to senior level class work, we're graduating in May). We encouraged early registration because we would be able to anticipate and plan the event better, but we know people tend to wait till the last minute. Since monday, we have taken close to 100 new registrants each day. The police department is fine with the number of people, and we have spoken with the store manager so we can stockpile 800+ dozen doughnuts ready to go for Saturday morning. We have walked the Belltower, driven the course, and walked around the Krispy Kreme lot trying to plan this event as best as we can.

Saturday morning *will* be wild and insane. It's going to be madness and mayhem, and that is why it will be memorable and fun. We're doing our best to make the event go as smoothly as possible.

1/26/2007 1:55:16 PM

Quote :

"it's only a matter of time before this gets shut down by the university (too many people are starting to enjoy it)"

Kinda weird, considering the Chancellor himself is coming out to the event and he was talking it up at a conference he was at earlier this week.

1/26/2007 2:00:25 PM

Good god this is gettin HUGE

guessin maybe 800 people will run, the others are just in for the T shirts

wow, gonna be big


TEAM GLAZED GRUNDELS FTW

1/26/2007 2:56:10 PM

I'm running the challenge and I'm really excited about it but a few of my friends who aren't running want to know where the best place to watch would be from- is the kripsy kreme parking lot or the bell tower a better spot for people who just want a view of the mayhem?

1/26/2007 3:00:36 PM

That road is going to smell like ass for weeks from all the puke

1/26/2007 3:08:17 PM

Wow, this is huge. 1251 runners is a significant portion of the university. I mean, this is impressive.
You all might have it work out awesome. I'm rooting for the organizers too. You have something very unique and very high profile and I would never have thought it would have gotten to this level this year.

btw, last year's numbers were pretty unexpected as well, were they not? From what I understand, the year before last (being the first annual), was hardly big enough to be a race.

Quote :

"I thought he said everyone shooting for <35 were starting in the front. I'm an extra krispy but probably wouldn't pull off 35, so I'm not gonna start in the front. I imagine there will be a lot of people in the same boat."

oh, pardon me for not getting the details right. If it does work this way I'll be in the "shooting for an hour group", so I know where you're coming from there. I definitely think that would be better.

Quote :

"not to be pessimistic, but it's only a matter of time before this gets shut down by the university (too many people are starting to enjoy it)"

QUICK!! Call Paul Cousins NOW!

1/26/2007 5:55:20 PM

Okay, so I have a couple of last minute questions..

1) I just glanced at the website and noticed the route has changed. It's definitely longer than last year's route by a little, so it's going to add at least 30-60 secs each way, making the times not quite comparable to last year. was this in an effort to make it actually two miles? because last year it obviously wasn't because I got to krispy kreme in like 9:20.

2) are there going to be water coolers and cups set up, or could there possibly be cups of water already set up on a table? not trying to be picky, but last year I had to grab a cup and wait behind some people before I could fill it up. Just little minor things that add up on your time I guess.

1/26/2007 9:22:23 PM

1. yes, the route is a bit longer than last year (using the USATF tool: http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/index.asp?). first it does bring it closer to two miles. second, and more importantly, it was easier to get the police to close off those streets on the site instead of Clark and the whole length of Peace

2. We are making every effort to ensure water is always available and quickly distributed. We've used last years problems to guide this year's efforts.

I know, as a runner, how the change of course may be frustrating to achieving a new best time. We wish you the best, and hope you understand why the course choice was made. Have a great time tomorrow!

[Edited on January 26, 2007 at 9:33 PM. Reason : USATF link]

1/26/2007 9:32:09 PM

Somebody make sure to capture the news segments tonight and post links to articles in this thread.

1/27/2007 5:37:27 AM

Quote :

"Registrants to date: 1377"

wow.. gg

1/27/2007 6:25:59 AM

Funnest run I've ever been apart of....Job well done to ALL of the organizers and volunteers!!!!

1/27/2007 11:15:05 AM

yeah, i was surprised, that did go really well. Props to like everyone involved. And the guy on crutches who came in last too. He ate his donuts faster than I did.

I absolutely could not believe they started everyone at the same time. But yet somehow it worked better that way. Yeah, it was crowded as hell at the KK but there were actually plenty of volunteers to get the donuts around and tell everyone where to throw up. The roads completely packed with people running there were glorious. This would be an ordinary road race if it wern't for the hats and the puking. And I was one of those that puked. Too many donuts, too quick.

1/27/2007 11:25:41 AM

39 minutes total time for me and still no puking!

I am starting to come down off the sugar high right now though....

Those donuts were hard as hell for me to choke down...took way longer than I had hoped.

[Edited on January 27, 2007 at 11:31 AM. Reason : .]

1/27/2007 11:31:28 AM

hardest part to me was those last 4 doughnuts

the race was fine felt alot shorter on the way back

congrats to everyone that finished and did the whole challenge whether u made it in time or not.


12 dozen and under and hour here

24:31 is insane, gg though.

1/27/2007 11:33:11 AM

Yeah, bellrabbit is the guy that won it.

Awesome job man.

1/27/2007 11:37:29 AM

so I signed up as a casual runner but 12 doughnuts went down like gravy

I wish I knew my exact time but it was around 40 minutes

my hands are still shaking

1/27/2007 11:42:33 AM

^^
does anyone know what his time was?

1/27/2007 11:44:23 AM

^24:31 I believe.

1/27/2007 11:46:01 AM

12 donuts 54 minutes and no puking.

The last donuts were the worst- my mouth was so dry and I didn't think I'd be able to eat any more glaze. I saw a bunch of people crunch the donuts together into a ball or a sandwich, and thats what I had to do with the last couple. PROPS to everyone that was involved in planning this, despite there being over 1300 runners, things went remarkably smoothly, even at Krispy Kreme.

There was a ton of media there too- news crews and photographers. Does anyone know what stations were there so I can watch it tonight on the news?

Awesome run.

1/27/2007 11:59:43 AM

That was a ton of fun. I'm not sure I'll be able to get myself to do it next year. Hit my goal of under 40 minutes. That first minute or two was insane trying to not run over someone. It spread out pretty well and the return was good. The only two things that I didn't like was it was hard for me to get more water to eat my last two donuts because they couldn't replace the water quickly enough and they didn't tell me my time when I finished. The water thing was just an issue of too many runners and I must have misunderstood about getting your time when you finished. I guess that was only for the people in the front of the pack.
All in all, good job Greg, Saket and all the other organizers/volunteers. Major props.

1/27/2007 12:24:55 PM

Best.Race.Ever

This was seriously the most fun I've had at damn near any race I've participated in. You guys did a great job with organizing a memorable event.

I bet there will will be at least 5,000 people at this thing next year. Word has obviously gotten out. Props for everything.

1/27/2007 12:31:38 PM

Great job everyone! Thanks so much to the organizers, volunteers & RPD for making this so much fun!

1/27/2007 12:34:23 PM

Thanks everyone for making it a success! As the only organizer who did the challenge as well, I got to experience both sides of the fun. We runners all were having a great time. I'm so glad I finished it this year (only 9 down last year) and under an hour this time! The course does seem shorter on the way back. I threw up afterwards, felt so much better.

From the organizer's standpoint, we got there at 5 am and were setting up. To see everyone come in little by little, the crowd grow HUGE, and doughnuts passed out so efficiently at KK; it was great to see it all come together.

I hope you all come out again next year...maybe just as observers this time...pleh

1/27/2007 12:40:57 PM

Here's some snapshots to tide you over until the good photographers post theirs...

1/27/2007 1:01:57 PM

best picture of the entire event

1/27/2007 1:17:54 PM

times are updated

1/27/2007 1:32:02 PM

Awesome, they put all the times up, not just the top 10 this year. A+++ would attend organizer's events again.

1/27/2007 2:16:53 PM

a couple small things will be fixed in the results.

actually not EVERYONES time is posted, just those who finished the challenge successful.

NOTE: this is incorrect right now, as you can see that there are times greater than one hour posted, those will be removed.

also the layout of the team times will be fixed so they don't include all those decimals.

the water shortage was the only real problem at KK and we did what we could, obviously thats something that will be improved upon next year.

I bet you could email them to get your official time.

[Edited on January 27, 2007 at 2:56 PM. Reason : .]

1/27/2007 2:53:37 PM

^Water shortage is such a hard thing to prevent when you are dealing out little cups. Its just far too easy for you to have more people coming up for water than you can keep up with. It just happens.

1/27/2007 3:10:18 PM

I think chip timing would be something to look into for next year.

My time is off by 16 seconds. I came in side by side with my teammate and he's noted as beating me by 16 seconds. I'm sure this isnt the only time that's messed up. Not a big deal though, still fun.

1/27/2007 3:12:31 PM

^ That gets really expensive really fast.

1/27/2007 3:18:46 PM

If the rate at which this event is growing continues, I think it would be a decent idea.

1/27/2007 3:20:23 PM

Quote :

"NOTE: this is incorrect right now, as you can see that there are times greater than one hour posted, those will be removed."

Leave 'em up there.

it's better to see your time and know that it's >1 hour as opposed to reason that it's not there so you didn't make it.

1/27/2007 4:30:54 PM

thats just what I was told is the plan.

now if they decide to post all times later or whatever I don't know.

1/27/2007 4:34:59 PM

Hey everyone,

I can't thank you enough for all the positive response. This event was close to three months in the making and you guys have made it so special. It went a lot smoother than we honestly thought it would!

I'm still working on updating the results page. We've got data into our databases but we're still having to format it. Though right now I've gone about 39 hours with only two hours of sleep, so please check back tomorrow for them. We'll try to get all the info we have up on the website.

I was managing things at the Krispy Kreme store and would like to thank all the volunteers and spectators who chipped in to help make things run smoothly. I recognize that we couldn't fill the water coolers as fast as we needed to -- we're definitely going to address that next year. We have a much better idea what to expect with so many people now.

I'm thrilled that everyone had a great time. You helped raise close to $10,000 for the NC Children's Hospital! We're keeping a close eye on all the press this event gets, so we'll link to articles here.

Important: We're going to try to open a photo gallery where you can upload photos for everyone to see. We ideally want it to be public in order to capture all angles because there were a ton of cameras out there. If you have uploaded your pictures somewhere, please consider emailing us with a link and if you don't mind whether we could use them for publicity. You guys rock.

1/27/2007 5:21:52 PM

Awesome man.

I'm glad you got the results up. I'm totally for whatever picture collaboration you'll have later. But it was good just to be able to see the results right after the race.

The water thing was a little bit of a pain, but I was trying to not drink much so I didn't notice much (how good of an idea is that now?)

But I didn't really understand why y'all had the problem. There was a volunteer standing there with a water cooler at one point who would just answer to everyone "we're out." I'm like "you're a volunteer, go get a hose and fill it back up!" I mean really, I don't see how it's much more complicated than that.

1/27/2007 9:40:38 PM

GREAT event! Though I had the highest hopes, but I must admit I was somewhat skeptical that that volume of competitors could be handled effectively. I knew the saving grace was that the organizers had known it would be huge for over a week, and had time to plan accordingly, unlike last year when the double turnout was a surprise to everyone. You guys pulled it off to near perfection. Congratulations. I may well do it again next year and bring some folks from work along. It's obvious from the turnout, and from the overwhelmingly positive response to the event that this will continue to grow next year.

With that in mind, chip timing is a decent suggestion. A cheaper alternative would be to have a camera mounted at the finish line with a large digital timer in view. That way, you could go back and cross-reference the tape if folks start complaining about time. It would also be nice to have a timer facing the runners as they cross the finish line, or mounted at the tower itself so that they have instant feedback on their time. These are not complaints about today's event, but just suggestions for the future to make the event even better!

As for the times posted, I think it would be good to post all of the times available, but to do so under separate tabs and to give those that completed the challenge according to the specifications the recognition they earned. "Successful Challengers" is already up. Add another tab like "Others Completing The Distance" and move all the times over 1 hour to that tab. Not sure what to do with the guy right on 1:00:00. I guess that counts. Also need to add the number of participants to the teams tab.

bellrabbit scorched the course! I know he lost a good 15 seconds at the store because he wasn't sure where to turn in the empty box and get his number signed off. Unreal.

[Edited on January 27, 2007 at 10:52 PM. Reason : BTW, I have about 120 pictures to add. Saket, what is this costing you in hosting fees?]

1/27/2007 10:45:25 PM