Every year, the Lumen Christi boys cross country team gathers for a sacred tradition. A single race to end all races. One delicious mile of pain, one winner. The donut mile.

Each runner eats and fully swallows one glazed donut, then runs a 400m loop. This process is repeated four, excruciating times. The beauty of the donut mile is that it is truly anybody’s game. Normally slower runners can make up for time with fast donut consumption, while runners that are normally fast risk falling behind wasting time eating the donut. Additionally, the pacing is incredibly challenging, and the winner must determine and perfectly execute the most effective pace. Too fast, and you can’t maintain it. Too slow, and you fall behind. One man, however, seems to be unstoppable. In the 2025 LCXC donut mile, junior Rocky Bolton did what was once thought impossible: a donut mile three-peat.

Entering his third year in his high school career, Bolton is no stranger to the donut mile, or to victory. He won two consecutive donut miles in 2023 and 2024, setting the record for the fastest donut mile ever (eight minutes and six seconds) and cementing himself as a donut mile legend. As he approached this year’s challenge, he was confident that he could win for a third time despite impassioned competition. “I thought I was going to win by a lot,” the champion recalled, “but Hoyt [Swager] actually came pretty close. He finished only two seconds behind me.” Ultimately, it didn’t matter how close Hoyt Swager was. There can only be one champion: Rocky Bolton.

Bolton’s performance is the stuff of legends, but his story is not yet complete. There is one more year for Rocky Bolton, and the greatest bragging rights in LCXC history hinge on his final year. Can he go undefeated for his whole career, and pull off a fourth and final consecutive win? “I have high hopes,” he confidently says. Only time will tell. Either way, Rocky Bolton will go down in history as one of the greatest donut milers ever.