Cupcakes pose sweet challenge for runners

Arena Park wasn't melting in the dark, but Jessica Rosati of Cape Girardeau ate enough cake out in the rain to end up with pink and white icing flowing down her cheeks at the finish line of the 2013 Cupcake Challenge.

About 150 runners braved the cool, drizzly weather Sunday afternoon to participate in the 5-kilometer race in which they received credit not only for speed, but also for the number of cupcakes they ate during the competition. Runners were allowed to deduct two minutes from their finish time for each cupcake they consumed.

"I ate three, and I enjoyed every single one of them," Rosati said, laughing. "I feel great."

Rosati had an easier time than Katelyn Engelhart of Jackson, who didn't think she could take more than one cupcake.

"It was rough for me," Engelhart said. "It sounds like fun, and then when you're eating, you don't want to eat any more."

Kids take off at the start of the 1-mile race during the 2013 Cupcake Challenge on Sunday at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau. (ADAM VOGLER)

The Cupcake Challenge was a fundraiser for Hope Children's Home in Jackson, which provides temporary emergency shelter for children taken into protective custody.

Race director Marcy Ambler said Simply Frosted of Chaffee, Mo., donated about 400 cupcakes for the event, and volunteers made another six to eight dozen to be sure they would have enough for all participants. They ended up handing out about 300 cupcakes at the race. Some of the leftovers went to local organizations including Teen Challenge and the children's home.

The event also included a 1-mile kids race.

Ambler said the rain may have deterred some people from signing up on race day, and a few people who had preregistered did not show up to run. Overall, the weather wasn't a problem.

"It was a nice, cool day for a race," she said.

Ambler said the race, which was the first of its kind for the children's home, drew a mix of serious competitors and first-time runners.

Cindy Engelhardt of Kevil, Ky., was content to walk the course and enjoy her cupcakes.

Engelhardt, who came with a church group, said her daughter is the serious runner in her family.

"She runs 13 miles on a regular basis ... but me? Nah. I do well to mow the yard," Engelhardt said. "I've never done a 5k in my life."

Renee Brown of Whitewater may have been the most determined participant, observing the infamous "three-second rule" -- dropped food is fine to eat if retrieved within three seconds -- after her second cupcake landed on the ground.

"I wasn't going to start over," she said. "I picked it off the ground and shoved it in my mouth."

Sarah Eftink of Cape Girardeau, who sampled strawberry, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes during the run, approved of Brown's commitment.

"A cupcake's a cupcake," she said. "You've got to eat it."

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