It’s getting to that time of year when graduating seniors get to wax poetic about their college experience in order to avoid having to write columns. So I thought it might not be a bad idea to preserve some of the wisdom I’ve accumulated for posterity. Then again, I’m not really that smart, and the most I could offer future generations would be a couple good stories and random quotes from 90’s movies.

Or, I could maybe write one of those “15 things to do before you graduate” columns. But again, college is more fun when you figure those things out for yourself — and who knows the next time Alex Trebek and Jeopardy will roll back to Madison? Plus, most of those columns would have included some sort of reference to that annual 8k run paying homage to Wisconsin’s “demented duck.”

In case you didn’t notice, the Crazylegs Classic, named after Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch, was this past Saturday.

There’s plenty to like about the race. Apart from the catchy name, the course through downtown Madison, along Lake Mendota and finishing in Camp Randall has helped the event land accolades from Runner’s World Magazine and the Road Runners Club of America. Moreover, there’s music from the UW Marching Band and the Eddie (no relation to Seymore) Butts Band as well as free beer waiting for participants at the finish line.

What started in 1982 as the brainchild of a few Badger fans grew from 1,500 runners its first year to over 20,000 last Saturday. Out-of-staters come to compete. Students get up early and run hungover. Students go to bed early and run sober. It is wildly popular.

It is also a fundraiser for the Athletic Department.

And what a fundraiser it is. With over twenty thousand participants this year, the race set a new record for attendance and passed the quarter million mark in just nineteen years. It is a boon for downtown restaurants, shops and hotels as people flock to Madison from across the county, state and region. It has corporate sponsorship from the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison Gas and Electric Company, EdVest, Covance, Noodles and Company and Pizza Hut. Basically, it rakes.

It is also a fundraiser for the Athletic Department.

Each of those twenty thousand participants gladly shelled out 20 bucks to walk or 25 to run, and more if they signed up late. And though no one seems Tony Perkis-crazy, the participants are all pretty excited to pay for something they can do for free 364 days of the year [Ed. Note: 365 during leap years].

I’m a runner (or at least I pretend to be). I get why people enjoy running and why people enjoy racing, but Crazylegs has always confused me. Do 20,000 people out there really think the Athletic Department needs more money?

To be fair, the proceeds from Crazylegs go toward scholarships for student athletes, not Brett Bielema’s salary. Nevertheless, a department that operated with a seven-figure surplus in 2007-2008 does not need a six-figure fundraiser to help pay its athletes.

This isn’t a condemnation of student-athletes or the Athletic Department, but now that the race has been firmly established as a Madison institution, it is time that people thought a little harder about just what Crazylegs is and what it says about our priorities as a university and a city. I’ll bet there are plenty of other scholarship funds, academic departments or charities that could use even a small piece of that money.

If 20,000 of us are going to turn out and pay up for the chance to run through this city, it should be for a higher purpose than the NCAA. Just donating “only” a couple thousand dollars to a more worthy cause — and there are certainly more worthy causes than crew teams — would be a good start. The athletic department is by no means obligated to change anything, but it is rather ironic that Madison is now known for and proud of a race that is the five-mile equivalent of a George Bush tax cut.

There are lots of reasons why I run, but helping the rich get richer has never been one of them.

So instead of writing another check to Barry Alvarez on top of what I already pay for tickets, I just put a couple bucks in the collection plate at church and run lakeshore, University Heights, Capital Square or Mansion Hill whenever I feel like it. After all, Barry wouldn’t even spring to buy me a Grateful Red shirt this year.

Joey Labuz ([email protected]) is a senior graduating with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. Wish him luck.