The 2009 race was featured on Man Vs Food. And I think folks may have been wondering how could 2010 top that. But this is just the kind of race that gets better (and more remarkable) with age! What is Doughman? Think Ironman -- but a lot, well, doughier. For those not in the know (and really you should check out that M v F episode -- hilarious!), Doughman combines competitive eating with a 4-person team quadrathlon and crazy costumes. The charities this year were SEEDS and See-Saw Studios -- both Durham youth programs. And the food stops on the race were all Durham restaurateurs with a local focus. I volunteered with some fabulous yelper helpers: Mari J, Helena K and her hubby, Al. We were stationed at the first stop in the race, Hog Heaven. Bikers cycled in and proceeded to wolf down (or try to) a chicken leg, cup of pulled pork and three hushpuppies. Sound outrageous? It is. The next stop involved an inner tube and paddling across a pool. Some of the best costumes were the Stay Buft team (cute Pillsbury hats and shirts!), Inconceivable! (a Princess Bride cast... how the hell they raced in pirate boots and capes is unbeknownst to me), and Breakfast of Champions (Biscuit King and Wonder Bread Woman?? So clever and well-produced!). But of course it was our very own Make Me Yelp team (Tripp W, Jane W, Phil G, and Meghan B) that won first place in costumes this year... for some very homemade Richard Simmons'-inspired outfits complete with curly wigs -- and the jumping jacks and high knees to go along with them! They finished 16th place (out of 70) in the race; and Yelp raised enough money to earn the 10th spot on the fundraising leaderboard. In other words, you yelpers rock! ;) Super-excited for the Doughman Banquet (yummy local food and beer) which takes place this evening. Ticket funds go to the charities. Awesome way to participate in Doughman if you don't necessarily feel like dressing up like superheroes and stuffing your face with a hoagie at 9am. Time to start planning for next year's race! --- So I just has to post a quick same-day update to say the Doughman hEArTs Durham Banquet was so fabulous. Terrific local breweries, great live music, and really good catered food (especially loving the Dolly Mama chocolate; LocoPops; and the bbq). And just swell company. People ate, drank and made merry for sure. Wish I could've stuck around for the dancing but I was pretty pooped after such a big day! read more

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Being a part of the Doughman race is one of the more fun things I have done in a while. What other event can you simultaneously dress up in ridiculous costumes, get exercise, act stupid, eat amazing food, get a scenic tour of Durham, meet interesting new people, and dance to 80's music? That's right, no where else but Doughman. We represented yelp proudly and with tons of spunk (can someone say random acts of jumping jacks?). I feel I got the best food draw of the team with local yogurt and a BBQ platter, but with the uphill 10 mile bike ride, I definitely earned every tasty morsel. Fav moments: - Phil G hopelessly roaming around for food prior to the race. Blah blah blah donut blah blah. - Kicking the Biggest Loser team's butt. There was no way I was going to let them come even close. - Meghan B 80's mix. Imagine me rolling through Durham driving the chaser truck, windows down, full Richard Simmons costume, singing 80's tunes at the top of my lungs, and waving to every person that passed me by. Classic! - People mistaking the wig for my real hair - The 3rd place team's coach in short shorts and an armadillo belt buckle - Eating and drinking my weight in food and beer at the banquet that night (still not really sure how I did it) So much fun. I can't wait to do it again next year! read more

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The Doughman this past weekend was the event that really made me feel like a "Durham-ite." I'm relatively new to this city, but it honestly has the best community and spirit to it out of any place I have lived. Our team not only looked fabulous, but also had the best spirit and energy out of all the teams. I really liked being 3 other Yelpers that were just looking to have a good time (and make fun of themselves in the process), not lose their cookies, and finish the race without really worrying what place we were in. Luckily, we kicked booty and came in 16th out of 70 teams and got first place in the costumes! That win was well earned and now we've set the standard for future Yelp teams. :) I'm compiling a list of ideas for next year haha! From satisfying Phil G.'s hunger at 6:30am with Dunkin Donuts, to watching Tripp W. happily climb off his bike and say that he was ready to go again, the whole day was one hysterical event after another. One of my favorite things that happened was rocking out to "Whip It!" and "Locomotion" in my car with Phil and G.I. Jane W. as we were driving to different race points. The 80s music definitely got us pumped even more and made the Richard Simmons come out in each one of us. I think the proudest moment was when we all crossed the finish line at the end holding hands and grinning like fools -- look at Ron. W.'s picture, it's classic. Can anyone say Christmas cards? Hahaha, juuuuust kidding. Overall, I would definitely do this event again! It is for a wonderful cause (well two, with DIG and Seesaw Studio), and so much fun to participate in. I was definitely nervous about getting sick, but if I can do it, anybody can. Next year -- we need at least 2 Yelp teams to rock it out. :) Thanks Christina G. for getting us a spot in the competition and banquet tickets! read more

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As a second year veteran, I feel I can no longer put off the review for The Doughman challenge. 2012 marked the 5th annual event at the Durham Central Park, and that's five years of fast eating, fast biking, fast running, and fast swimming. It means: That's a lot of sloppy Joe and fried green tomato and vegan tacos and tamale, and That's a lot of wheels felling off the bikes and tumbling over head first, and That's a lot of scrapped knees and twisted ankles and broken sneakers, and That's a lot of paddling on inner tubes That's also a lot of superheroes and rock stars and matching colors, and guys in women dresses and gals in mens clothes. Competing for the spirit of the race and for the cause for which it stands. Let it not be forgotten why we collect here years after years, with larger and larger appetite, funnier and funnier costumes: The DOUGHMAN is a spectacle designed to celebrate our community and give great local charities a platform on which to raise DOUGH and to tell their stories. All the proceed raised by the teams go to SEED and DIG, which are two great inner-city education programs benefiting Durham. I look forward for at least a few more years of participation under the banner of Yelp-Sweat-Tears, and I promise to be faster and faster on that bike leg. read more

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I just realized I didn't actually review the Doughman yet! I posted a ton of photos, though, so I hope you like them. I recruited my non-Yelper hubby, Alpon the Grey, to volunteer with me at the Yelp-sponsored Doughman stop at Hog Heaven. I directed the cyclists from the road into the Hog Heaven parking lot and luckily didn't have to get near the BBQ. Although I definitely pissed off a guy in a big truck when I wouldn't let him in the Hog Heaven entrance as the first cyclists approached! I stood my ground, though---had to use caca words, actually, to get my point across---and eventually dude got out of the way and let the bikers enter. I did not even recognize Tripp W. in his Richard Simmons' wig but always-prepared Ron W. did and got some great shots of our Yelp buddy wolfing down BBQ before hopping on his bike and braving the high-traffic roads like a freakin' champ. Al and I both had so much fun at this stop. So much fun, in fact, that we didn't even get over to the DAP in time to see Team Make Me Yelp finish the race (sads). But, once again, Ron W. captured the action front and center, so we were able to vicariously experience that moment of glory. The shirts we got are AWESOME. Great design and perfect for sleeping or working out or whathaveyou. I've already worn mine three times since race day! Later at the banquet, we gulped down great local beers---served up by our own Johanna K., among others---and stood in the miles-long line for food. Boy, was that line worth it. We got the tale-end of a lot of places (I got the very last little veggie sandwich from Alivia's, for example), but what we had was absolutely amazing. Then I hoarded a bunch of Boylan's sodas, which I ended up misplacing anyway. We had a blast hanging out at the Yelp booth with Christina G. and all of our awesome Doughman team racers: Meghan B., Phil G., Jane W., and Tripp W. Congrats on your kickass 16th-place finish, kids! read more

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It was great to be a first-time racer in the 3rd annual Doughman race on team Make Me Yelp. The event was well organized and their were volunteers galore. Despite ominous weather the night before, race day was nice and clear and relatively mild. Some of the route signage was lost but we all found our way. Our team was athletic but we were most interested in being competitive in the eating and costumes. Being the foodies we were, we were excited in the food choices. Racer 1 (Tripp W) had frozen yogurt from Local Yogurt and BBQ plate from Hog Heaven. Racer 2 (Jane W) had Margarita Pizza from Broad St. Cafe. Racer 3 (myself) had the Goat Meat Italian Sausage Sandwich. Racer 4 (Meghan B) had Chilaquiles from Dos Perros. All of the racers had a mini cupcake from Nosh or a popsicle from LocoPops before the finish line. I inhaled the Goat Meat Italian Sausage Sandwich as fast I could with the help of some water to wash it down. The flavors were good but I had to focus on the breathing and chewing. It was awesome to see Durham restaurants come together for such an awesome event. Participating in this race and raising money for SEEDS and SeeSaw studios made me proud to be living in Durham. We saw some very humorous costumes but, in the end, our Richard Simmons costumes took first prize. Even if we hadn't won, the entertainment from creating these costumes with fellow yelpers made it worth it. With pizza from Pop's Backdoor and mojitos to fuel us, we created some costumes that were, umm, interesting. Our goal was to recreate Richard Simmons, but the end result was a cross between Richard Simmons, Napolean Dynamite, and Annie (all of which are quite funny). I even ended up with a wife beater tan due to lack of sunscreen that will help me remember the costume for a few more days. The event also attracted former cast members from Biggest Loser. I met Rebecca who was the Season 8 winner while I waited to be tagged at my station. This was perhaps the closest I've been too someone famous :) We later met the other team members from Biggest Loser (Ed, Hebba, and Daniel) who were excited to get some pictures with our Richard Simmons costumes. There were plenty of spectators and some news media to cheer the racers along. After grueling race, team Make Me Yelp finished in 16th place among 70 teams. Hopefully you'll see us again next year! read more

Quintessentially Durham. Brief synopsis: 4 team members. 4 legs: 2 running, 1 bike, 1 "swim" (run+inner tube paddling across a pool). Racers eat local Durham eats before each leg. Hearts are touched, dreams are realized. Glory is fully attained. About 80-90 teams competed this year, so that's a lot of work. Massive props to the organizers and thanks to the volunteers that made it awesome. Notably, that's also a lot of food to prepare, so it was pretty much all cold and some of it pretty dry by the time you eat it. If you're looking for a "Taste of Durham" experience, maybe find an easier way to do that. Having said that, all competitors were great sports and the costumes people were wearing rocked. I have to recommend this for anyone's Durham bucket list. Just nothing else like it around. read more

After volunteering once and missing out on registration numerous times, I finally got to "compete" in the Doughman this year as part of the Yelp team and it was an amazing time (despite the fact that our team got DQ'ed...boo). The Doughman is the Bull City personified in a Saturday morning. There's great local food, crazy antics and costumes, a random mix of super athletes and non-athletes competing, TONS of community pride, support for great causes (the Hub Farm this year), food trucks, the farmer's market right next door, and imbibing of excellent local beer at a much, much too early hour (following the competition of course). Yup, that's the Durham that I love. With all that said, the truly important thing to do is to thank all the sponsors, restaurants, Bull City Running Co, and the dedicated volunteers that have made such an amazing event possible for 6 years now! Bottom line: Take part in the Doughman if you get a chance whether it's via volunteering or competing as it's a great event! read more