On Doughnuts Alone

4 February 2025| Race Reports

The nutritional value of an average doughnut is 250 calories, containing 14g of fat and 4 grams of protein; who knew that doughnuts were a good way to increase your protein intake.

On an average 50K run I’ll burn something in the region of 3000 – 6000 calories depending upon terrain, speed and temperature. In April 2024, hitting the streets of London for a self-designed 57K ultra I burnt 4766 calories, equating to 19 doughnuts. And that was good news as I was running to 21 Krispy Kreme stores.

"Front page of the newspaper"

‘Where do you come up with these ideas’ my running friend Danny asked recently when I announced to him what my 2025 food related ultra would be. Good question mate, I guess I love running and I love doughnuts so it seemed only natural to combine the two. Deep down there was another compelling reason and that’s attention. These self-designed runs are always about fundraising for cancer charities, being a cancer survivor it’s important I support others on that journey too. Running to 21 Krispy Kreme stores would be an attention grabber, and it turned out to be so with a front page newspaper article following the run.

Front page news!

Powered by doughnuts

I’d run those 57K winding through London, passing some of the capitals most iconic locations, powered by nothing but doughnuts; it wasn’t the plan I’d start out with. Over the years I’ve worked my way through many nutrition options, your requirements and palette change over the hours you are running, what works for a 2 or 3 hour run may not on a 12, 15 or 24 hour one. I plan on writing more about this in the future, it’s an interesting and important topic. I arrived in London with my usual Precision Hydration Gels and as I was in a major city had planned on picking up some real food along the way, a sandwich or sausage roll always goes down well on a 50K run. But as I visited each of the Krispy Kreme stores I was offered a doughnut, of which I accepted and ran the 57K being powered only by delicious round decadent doughnuts.

Westfield Shopping centre, close to the London Stadium was the starting point. I’d arrived early, took an age to find the toilet, why are maps in shopping centres so confusing, they bear no reality to the actual landscape and eventual location of the facilities. Hopping around on one foot for a while trying to hold the inevitable at bay I finally located the toilets and unleashed like a fire hose.

A coffee store in the shopping centre provided a snack and hot chocolate before I laced up and got underway. The Krispy Kreme store didn’t open until after I started the run, a quick selfie outside the store down the escalator, out the centre and waited for the gps to find signal to start my navigation. The route initially took me around the outside of the London Stadium where there are giant letters spelling RUN on a roundabout, how perfect was that.

Doughnut Run 2024 - 50K route

My route, mapped at home using all the London stores postcodes entered into Excel then uploaded to Google Maps was a perfect arc around the city, finishing at Canary Wharf. I’d taken out some of the outlying stores that didn’t make a lot of sense to run to, stores being too far off the arc, leaving me with 21. Once the final route was established I turned to Komoot mapping the route for navigation on the day.

Crossing The Mall

Komoot is excellent at this. Mapping the route to street level enabled me to locate each of the stores and the best route in between, sometimes I’d let Komoot decide the way and have the option to move the chosen route if I felt it wasn’t the best way, although Komoot is darn good at choosing the most appropriate route between two points.

"A country boy at heart"

I don’t really know London, it’s not a place I have spent much time in and wherever possible I avoid busy built up areas. I’m a country boy at heart, which is why I probably have a preference for trail running but I didn’t see any Krispy Kreme stores on the trail when I ran round Mont Blanc in 2023, you are missing a trick here Krispy Kreme! Londoners clearly love the sweet array of colourful treats on offer from Krispy Kreme as is evident by the number of stores in the Capital. And who can blame them, they are amazing. I am the person in front of you in the queue at one of their stores who dithers around trying to make up his mind which one to have, or how many of the Biscoffs should I put in my Choose Your Own Dozen.

So many to choose from

London was busy on this mild April day, at least some areas were, mainly the tourist ones. I’d see The Shard and The Post Office Tower, pass through bustling railway stations, Tower Bridge, The Mall, St James’ Park, glance over my shoulder at Buckingham Palace, run through Spitalfields Market. I’d turn down small back lanes that were deserted and pass by Trafalgar Square that was fenced off and had thousands of people bustling around at some sort of rally. London is a contradiction, one moment you are surrounded by hundreds of people, but turn down a side street and you are alone, the noise gone and a tranquil English village feeling washes over you. This is the London I had heard about so many times, it’s not so much a large city but a collection of villages all linked together; it’s quite a remarkable place to be.

"Early miles are always glorious"

Those early miles were glorious, they aways are on an ultra. Filled with energy and enthusiasm you glide through the first few miles effortlessly thinking back to all the wet and windy training runs that have brought you to this moment. I ran along quiet streets as it was still early on a Saturday morning and there was little work traffic, and onto a path alongside the river passing the occasional runner coming the other direction and smiling at the narrowboat owners waking to a morning coffee and warm sun. I stopped at a Fire Station as the shift was preparing for the day, chatted to a couple of the officers there and had my picture taken by one of the appliances. Cities are often given the tag of being unfriendly, my experience was far from this.

A warm welcome

Hopping off the tow path I ran for a while through Victoria Park where hundreds were enjoying a Parkrun. Parkrun is something of late that I don’t have a great relationship with; I used to volunteer at a local one, I’d run there, volunteer and run home, a cheeky 15 mile loop with plenty of clapping in between. Running a Parkrun in November I get shoved hard out the way by another runner chasing a PB, this I didn’t feel was in the spirit of Parkrun nor is it ever acceptable to shove someone aside, so for now I’ve ditched any involvement with Parkrun.

Let’s spin back to a positive note, doughnuts. My first store was at Liverpool Street Station, quickly followed stores at One New Change and Fleet Street. I was offered doughnuts at every store, and yes I did accept, the teams I’d meet were incredibly friendly, warm and welcoming. By the time I arrived at my 4th store there was a welcoming party. It seemed word had got out, the stores sharing my location on their WhatsApp group, saying I’d left their store and was on the way to my next. The team at the next store would enthusiastically welcome me in and we’d get plenty of photos together, they were bringing something special to my run and I hoped I may bringing them some joy to theirs.

We sat on Rik Mayalls Bench

At Westfield I was joined by fellow runner and all round good guy, Danny. He’d made his way across London to catch up with me for a few miles, and I suspect a few doughnuts too! At the Putney store we received an amazing welcome and met with one of the Regional Managers. I refilled the water bottles, grabbed a coke, accepted a doughnut and we hit the streets once more.

Sitting on Rik Mayalls bench

As we scooted round Hammersmith we took a moment to both sit on Rik Myalls bench, I knew nothing about this until my strength coach told me. It was featured in the opening title of the programme Bottom that Rik starred in. There is a plaque dedicated to Rik on the bench so we sat, ate a doughnut and took a selfie. Danny left a short while later having clocked up some enjoyable miles together.

Meeting Alex and Vicky

At London’s Victoria Station, which has an amazing Krispy Kreme store looking like a chrome Airstream trailer, as does the one at Waterloo, I was met with a tap on the shoulder and to my surprise there were my great running friends Vicky and Alex. The’d be tracking me all over London trying to figure out how to insect me, having missed a couple of times earlier in the day. It was an amazing surprise and I loved it. Running is often a solitary endeavour, the hours of training alone through all weathers, then there are the moments of serendipity that make every hard alone hour worthwhile. Seeing friends on an event, especially those that have gone out of their way to find you in a busy city means so much. I left Victoria Station with a spring in my step.

Waterloo station was another of the Airstream style outlets, it’s bright chrome finish acting like a beacon calling me closer. The team here were busy with customers, but they still found time to welcome me with huge smiles, took time for selfies and offered a doughnut, which I gratefully accepted. By this time the teams were taking photos of me, I think to share among the group so they can say I had been to their store and was on my way to the next. And next would be Borough Market.

All smiles from the Team at Waterloo

Borough was the second market I ran through, where as Spitalfields was just setting up for the day as I passed through earlier, stall holders busy with displaying their stock and building stalls, Borough was in full swing selling fruit, veg and so many delicious foods. These markets can trace their history back through hundreds of years, Spitalfields to around 1666. I was pleased to see it busy and trust that meant the stall holders were selling well. Buying from these markets is a far more rewarding experience than the supermarket, you get to talk to people who are passionate about what they are selling, imparting so much knowledge and great recipes too no doubt. Thank you London for another fabulous experience to add to my day.

Running through Spitalfields

Shortly I’d cross a busy Tower Bridge where I was reduced to a fast walking pace, running was impossible with the throngs of people all stopping for a photo, sadly not of me but of this iconic London landmark. I was on the home straight, a few more miles until I reached Canary Wharf. A few risky runs across busy roads, diving down small side alleys to reach the Thames and a flat run alongside the river all the way into Canada Square where the final store was to be found.

Crossing Tower Bridge

The last mile, half mile, few hundred meters of an ultra throw up so many emotions. A sense of relief that shortly you’ll be able to rest, refuel and recharge, the sense of achievement you are about to accomplish exactly what you set out to do, what all those training hours were for. A sense of joy for the experiences you’ve had, the people met, the views seen. And a sense of loss that it’s over, the thing you’d worked so hard for, spent many hours planning was to be over.

Heading Towards Canary Wharf

Initially I couldn’t locate the store, stopped a security guard and asked him. His response puzzling as he questioned why I’d want such a store; I did launch into a monologue about overcoming cancer, supporting others, visiting 21 stores as I ran over 50K through London today, much to the positive applause of two Italian tourists waiting to ask a question of the guard. He gave me the directions, I was just a hundred meters away. Running through the shopping centre I heard a calling of my name from Ben, Jack and Munaki from Oddballs who were waiting for me at the finish. The final steps were to claps and the welcoming from the team at Krispy Kreme Canary Wharf who presented me with a dozen mixed doughnuts, an incredibly thoughtful touch.

Delicious finish!

It’s taken me many months to write this post, each time I started I stopped as I couldn’t get the flow right. The run was unique, it captured imagination and made the front pages of the newspaper. It also raised over £1000 for Oddballs and created awareness around testicular cancer. I have ideas for other food related runs, in 2025 I’ll do The Burger Run, another self designed ultra that will take me to a finish line location owned by someone who saved my life.

Thank you Krispy Kreme for an amazing experience, warm welcome and so many delicious doughnuts.