January 26, 2009
From NC State's Technician Newspaper

ESPN to cover Krispy Kreme Challenge

Race will be featured on ESPN's SportsCenter

By Kate Shefte, Senior Staff Writer

Organizers are expecting more the 5000 participants this year.

N.C. State's upcoming Krispy Kreme Challenge, which rose from humble beginnings and is rapidly becoming one of N.C. State's most recognizable events, has swelled in size and coverage over the last several years.

Carrie McMillan, the public relations chair for the student-run event and a senior in history, said one of the most exciting developments thus far has been ESPN's commitment to feature the event on SportsCenter.

"They're going to be filming the race and doing a lot of coverage," McMillan said. "It's exciting for N.C. State students because they might get a picture of you shoving doughnuts into your face."

Scott Harves, the producer from ESPN assigned to the feature, said since the Krispey Kreme Challenge is still several weeks away, the details are subject to change. However, he and his co-workers are throwing several ideas around.

"We are definitely kicking around a lot of thoughts, but the race will speak for itself," Harves said. "We could probably just roll tape for an hour and come up with some pretty good stuff."

Harves said one of ESPN's producers in the features unit caught wind of the story through a press release sent out by McMillan and her team, and since then, they have been thinking up interesting ways to cover the race.

"We're also toying with the thought of having one of our own reporters run the race," Harves said. He offered no hint as to who that reporter might be.

Harves said one of the aforementioned 'thoughts' included putting a camera crew on a golf cart so viewers could follow the action.

"It will probably be some sort of organized chaos out there," Harves said. "I've covered one marathon before and found that it helps to be mobile when trying to shoot it all."

Barton Strawn, a senior in architecture who serves as a co-chair for the Krispy Kreme Challenge, said the goal is to follow the progress of the more than five thousand participants expected to attend.

"They're trying to cover all aspects of the race and get as full of a picture as they can," Strawn said.

ESPN's coverage is just the latest development in the Krispy Kreme Challenge's rise into national awareness. In 2007, event was No. 85 on the list of "102 More Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate," complied by Sports Illustrated: College Edition.

"We were thinking that we should be in the top-5, but maybe after this year it will be," Justin Carey, one of the eventís co-chairs and a senior in nuclear engineering, said.

McMillan said in addition to ESPN, several local channels and radio stations will be on hand to witness the sugar-filled funfest.

"People are coming from out of town. This is becoming an event that people are coming to Raleigh for," McMillan said. "It's a huge deal for N.C. State and a huge deal for this organization."

Though the Krispy Kreme Challenge is unique compared to the events typically covered at the SportsCenter desk, Harves said events like this occasionally leap out at the ESPN staff.

"We like to take risks outside of the mainstream sometimes, and this would fall into that category," Harves said.