A Runner Died of a Heart Attack During the Krispy Kreme Challenge

Eating 12 doughnuts in 60 minutes is hard enough on the human heart. But doing it while jogging for five miles can be downright dangerous.

Yet this is the basic premise of the Krispy Kreme Challenge that takes place every year in Raleigh, North Carolina, and proudly labels itself a "unique challenge of both athletic and gastrointestinal skill."

Despite being for a "good cause"—the race has raised over a million dollars for children to purchase toys, interactive devices, and fund children's program for patients at North Carolina Children's Hospital—it's a display of Western decadence on par with Roman vomitoriums.

While puking is a common occurrence at the event, this year is the first time in its history that a participant has died of a heart attack, according to The News & Observer. The Krispy Kreme Challenge confirmed the death, which reportedly took place in the early stages of the race, on its Facebook page on Saturday.

The Krispy Kreme Challenge has already drawn the ire of the medical community after the University of North Carolina's NC Children's Specialty Clinic was renamed the Krispy Kreme Challenge Children's Specialty Clinic—hardly the best branding move for a children's hospital given epidemic rates of childhood obesity across America.

And this recent tragedy will not be helping the image of a fundraiser which has led to the consumption of 724,548 doughnuts and a total of 137.6 million calories in the 12 years since its inception.