Holiday Donut Dash

Last week I was aimlessly wasting time on Facebook and I saw that someone from my running group was going to an event called "Holiday Donut Dash." There was only a picture of donuts and a brief description of the event:

"5K Dash to Dom Bakery and back followed by some intense donut eating. Maybe you make the Wall of Fame. Maybe you just enjoy a run with some donuts. Or just come to run. Bring $5 cash for donuts."

(source)

I don't know if I mentioned it during training, but basically every Sunday during my long run my husband would go pick of donuts (from Dom Bakery, even!) and then I would eat a donut while sitting in my ice bath. Running and donuts is definitely my jam. I RSVPed yes and tried to find out more information about the "intense donut eating" and the mysterious "Wall of Fame." I couldn't really find any information so I decided I would just show up and wing it.

Finally Sunday arrived and I found out more about the event. You run from Ypsilanti Running Company to the bakery, stop and buy your donuts, run back to the running store (while carrying your donuts), and then eat 5 donuts as fast as you can. The whole thing is timed and the fastest times (combined running and donut eating and just donut eating) are recorded on a chalkboard wall in the running store. The dash is held on the first Sunday of every month.

Since I have not run anything close to 5k pace in months I decided to take it easy. I also figured that throwing up a bunch of donuts was not the best way to make new friends. I ran to the bakery at an easy pace (9:15ish pace), bought myself two donuts, and decided to kick up the pace on the way back. I surprised myself with a 7:15 final mile. It felt good to run fast! I could tell that I was working hard, but it definitely wasn't the all out burn of 5k pace. Maybe I still have a bit of speed that I can tap into!

Outdated Wall of Fame, because I failed to take a picture and snagged this old one from Facebook.

My run time was 27:35; I'm already looking forward to heading back next month to improve my time and eat some donuts. Once my spring training is underway and I am a little more comfortable with running fast I am definitely going to try to get my name on the wall. It is kind of an unpredictable race though since the course is not closed, so I had to wait for traffic at one intersection and there could be a line at the bakery. I definitely won't be setting a PR on this course, but it should still be lots of fun!