Reese’s peanut butter cup donuts. That’s how we started this adventure. I mean, it’s carb-loading, right? And Daniel had a marathon to run. See, it’s all part of my husband’s way of celebrating his 20th anniversary of being cancer-free. He signed up for a series of marathons to run around the world throughout 2020… but we all know the year had other plans.
Homer Simpson Has Nothing On Us
Thanks to the gift that keeps on giving — COVID 19 — live races across the globe have been canceled or postponed, so we had to get creative to do the ones Daniel had signed up for. And since we’re experts at coming up with fun shenanigans, we figured, why not extend our fun-loving spirit to long-distance racing? We did so at the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, when Daniel ran Boston virtually. And now, while visiting Ohio, we decided the next logical step would be to do a donut run for London’s virtual race.
Turns out that just a bit north of Cincinnati, there’s Butler County, home of the Donut Trail. For those who are not familiar with it, it’s 13 family-owned donut shops. And if you visit all of them you get a free Donut Trail t-shirt. So, we figured it made perfect sense to map out a marathon between the donut shops. After all, what could be more fun than running a race with donut shops as the aid stations?
Getting Started With a Sugar Rush
First stop: Oxford Donuts. We got there at 6:00 AM on race day and immediately went to town with the sweet deliciousness. But why have one donut, when you can have more? So right after, we stopped at Kelly’s Bakery, where they serve fried croissants. If you’ve been thinking of eating healthier, this may be delicious, but likely not the place to start. And Daniel had 26.2 miles to run, so of course, he had one. We finished the starting game trifecta by going to Mimi’s Donuts & Bakery. This is where we had Reese’s peanut butter donut I mentioned earlier.
Running for Donuts
All jokes aside, this was a pretty special moment. Even with the canceled in-person race, there were 40,000 runners around the world running the marathon virtually. I wasn’t going to run it, but — just as I did at the Smoky Mountains — I was Daniel’s cheerleader and road support by riding on a bike behind him. As Daniel started running, we listened to the crowds cheering through the London Marathon app just like we were starting at Buckingham Palace.
About ten miles in, we had a pit stop at The Donut Spot, where Daniel refueled with a cheesecake donut. But wait. There’s more! We also had a pumpkin cinnamon donut, ‘cause he’s one of those people who line up at Starbucks for cinnamon pumpkin lattes. So obviously, he had to get one of those, too.
Two miles later, we stopped at Jupiter Coffee & Donuts. This time around, we got a swirly red and white donut, which was among Daniel’s top three donuts. We also had a blueberry cake donut, which tasted like heaven. You’d think that we’d be in a sugar coma by now, but think again. Count that as one of the glorious benefits of being athletic. Or so we thought.
Fueling Like a Champ
By mile 16, we made it to The Donut Hole by Milton’s. While Daniel stretched outside, I got him a vanilla cream and blackberry stuffed donut and a chocolate peanut butter donut. And after risking our lives like the daredevils that we are — by running and biking on the shoulder of a highway — we made it past the 21-mile marker. And then, it was time for Holtman’s Donuts. Here, we actually found vegan donuts, which made my heart sing with joy. We had a vanilla glazed, which was sheer perfection. We then had an Oreo donut, which, in Daniel’s words, was way above average.
Five miles to go. At this point, Daniel’s legs were getting tired. But find me a marathoner who hasn’t experienced this at this point in the race. Buuuuut add to that all the donuts we’d consumed so far, and we finally understood why these sugary treats aren’t typically used for fueling runners for long-distance races.
The Home Stretch
I’m not gonna lie. We did a lot of walking during the last three miles. We also hit the last pit stop, Stan The Donut Man. And guess what? It was closed. And since we only had half a mile to go, we decided to just walk it around the parking lot. And yes! We finished! And we did so to the glorious sound of applause coming from the app!
Since Stan The Donut Man was closed, we decided to get donuts for breakfast the next morning, so that we could get all the required stamps on our donut passport and get our free t-shirts. This is how we ended up at Ross Bakery. This time around, we ordered Daniel’s favorite, a traditional glazed donut. Even after our sugar fest the previous day, it was so good. We also got a glazed caramel donut, which was oh, so perfect. But if you thought this was the last donut stop, you thought wrong. We continued on to our tenth stop, Martin’s Donuts. Here, we got a cinnamon sugar pumpkin donut and an apple fritter.
Then, it was time for Central Pastry Shop. We ordered a donut called Donut Heaven. And y’all, it really was. After that, Daniel had a regular vanilla sprinkles donut, which surprisingly hit the spot. We continued on our trek to Milton’s Donuts, where we got a Fruity Pebbles rainbow donut, which made my inner 9-year-old girl happy. We also ordered a lemon-filled donut — the owner’s favorite. And once we tasted it, we could definitely see why. Total win!
Finally, we made it to our last stop — Stan the Donut Man. Honestly, we were so excited it was the final stop on the donut trail. The things we do for a free t-shirt. I got a blueberry cake donut, and Daniel got a glazed braid. The taste of sweet, sweet victory.
Did we get a stomach ache? Did we develop any cavities? Did we get such a bad sugar crash that we had to extend our stay in Ohio just so that we could sleep it off? You’re gonna have to watch to find out!
Watch for yourself as Daniel runs all the miles and eats all the donuts, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, Wanderlocal, so you don’t miss a single episode of this adventure!
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