Running... good. Donuts... yummy.
Donut Dash 2.0 – 4 miles and 4 donuts benefiting the Children’s Center at Sutter Memorial Hospital.
Run starts at the corner of Freeport Blvd., and Sutterville Rd.
Run, jog or walk 2 miles through shady Land Park to Marie’s Donuts, eat 4 donuts (or 6 donut holes or nothing at all) and then 2 miles back.
All proceeds go to support the Child Life Program at Sutter Memorial Hospital to help pay for art supplies, toys, movies, video games, etc to benefit the children during their hospital stay.
How we got started
It all started one evening while watching SportsCenter on ESPN in February 2009. Zack Wandell, a volunteer in the Child Life Program at Sutter Memorial Hospital since September 2004, saw a story about a Krispy Kreme Challenge that started in 2004 amongst a group of friends on the campus of North Carolina State University. The concept was simple, run 2 miles, eat a dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts, run 2 miles back. All the proceeds would be donated to the local Children's Hospital. When Zack heard that, something clicked in his head and he thought "We can do that here!" and the Donut Dash was created. He put the word out to friends to find out how many people would be willing to participate with the promise that if he could generate enough interest to be able to donate $1000, he'd put it all together.
The first step, a donut shop. Most people that grew up in Sacramento know the BEST donuts around are found at Marie's Donuts on Freeport Blvd. The race would have to involve them so the course is naturally set in beautiful William Land Park. Rather than eating a dozen donuts, he picked 4 and thus, 4 miles & 4 donuts became the new standard for the Donut Dash. For the more health conscious folks, a "lite" division was created so that they could eat 6 donut holes instead, and still enjoy all the fun.
In 2009, we had 25 runners and were able to raise over $1500. Our first winner was Andy Dahl at 30:16. Our first women’s winner was Tracy Auble, Andy's sister and a Child Life specialist at Sutter.
Child Life Services
Proceeds from the race are donated to the Child Life Program at Children’s Center, Sutter Medical Center. Funds are used for programs and activities designed to help children and families cope with their medical experiences. These programs and activities include educating children about their illnesses, preparing them for procedures and surgeries, offering normal childhood play experiences (toys, games, arts and crafts, movies, etc), celebrating holidays and special events, etc.
For more info, please see www.checksutterfirst.org/children/services/general_childlife.cfm
Children's Center at Sutter Medical Center
Children’s Center at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento is a comprehensive children’s “hospital-within-a-hospital” that offers on-site 24-hour pediatric and neonatal critical care physicians. We provide a patient and family-centered care approach, more than 50 board-certified subspecialists and a full medical transport team.
Over 7000 children a year, aged 0-18, are seen by the various units including pediatric inpatient, pediatric ICU, surgery, neonatal ICU, and outpatient services. The specialties include, but are not limited to; oncology/hematology, cardiology, general surgery, neurology, and critical care.
For more info, please see www.checksutterfirst.org/children
