Eat and Run

Durham's Doughman race gives whole new meaning to the term "eat and run."

I first heard of the race when Nicole received a text from a friend of hers explaining that Man vs. Food, a show on the Travel Channel, has a show dedicated to Durham. I had never seen the show before, but apparently it's a half hour of the host visiting the most outrageous and artery clogging restaurants/food places in a particular city. Carolina is known for their pork bbq, so of course a trip to the BBQ Shack in Durham was a necessity but the real star of the show was Man vs. Food team's participation in the race.

In May 2009, Durham held the second annual Doughman race to benefit a Durham inner city gardeners program called Seeds. The program gets the youth of Durham involved in planting, cultivating and harvesting crops in an environmentally and socially sustainable place. Through the program these kids develop a myriad of skills directly related to the gardening process and gain an understanding of environmental stewardship, nutrition, health, and economics all while improving their self-confidence and growing their leadership skills. Pretty cool stuff.

The race is termed a "quadathlon" incorporating the three typical events of running, biking and swimming and throwing in the fourth major event - eating. Run in relay style, teams of four alternate an eating leg and an athletic leg. For example, teammate #1 begins the race by eating crab macaroni and cheese, runs 2 miles, strips down to his/her bathing suit, swims the length of a pool and tags teammate #2 who then proceeds to bike to the next eating destination, down a "Bull City BLT" with homemade potato chips, bikes a few more miles and tags teammate #3 and so on. Teammate #4 has the task of eating the "Portable Defibrillator," a 1/4 pound local beef patty loaded with cheese, local meat chili, bacon, 1/4 hot dog and coleslaw on a fresh, locally baked bun. The sandwich is so mammoth, no sides are necessary.

Once the last team member finishes his or her leg, all four team members together scarf down four "Daisy Cakes," cupcakes of various flavors including strawberry shortcake and cinnamon cream cheese with candied bacon. Only once that is completed, all four together can run across the finish line.

The rules are very simple. Two team members are allowed to be vegan or vegetarian, all four team members must cross the finish line together, and the website specifically states that "vomiting is strictly discouraged". Yeah, right, tell that to my gut! I think it's safe to say that this is one race I will not be training for, but if you are so inclined, the site even gives prospective teams a training guide. Week one, get up, eat a donut and walk to the mailbox...