Sal DelGiudice won the 2011 cake race a year ago. He posed with the kids who helped bake the goats-eating-kudzu cake he picked, Patrick and Caroline Werner of Mooresville. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Davidson College students will begin arriving in town this week, and that means it’s nearly time for the college’s 73rd annual Freshman Cake Race, a 1.3-mile foot race among first-year students where prizes are cakes supplied by community members. The race is Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 29, and students are given the chance to choose a cake in order of their finish. The “cake race” is as much a competition among the cake bakers as among the frosh runners.

If you’re baking (or buying a store cake) this year, drop off your cake Wednesday, Aug. 29, between 1 and 3 p.m. at the Baker Sports Complex, off Concord Road. Tape your name on the bottom of your cake unless you wish to remain anonymous. Please send your cake on a disposable plate (paper plate, foil covered cardboard).

Questions: call Brenda Daugherty at 704-894-2342 or email brdaugherty@davidson.edu.

Residents are invited to come cheer on the new students on Aug. 29. There’s usually a good crowd there to help welcome the newest class of Davidsonians.

Orientation for the class of 2016 begins this Thursday, Aug. 23, at 8:30 a.m., and some students may begin moving in Wednesday night. College officials say the new school year brings 493 freshmen and 8 transfers. For more about orientation, see the college website.

RELATED COVERAGE

Aug. 24, 2011, “The winners take home the cakes” – coverage of last year’s race, with pictures of some of winning runners and cakes.