Thousands of runners poured through the streets of Madison Saturday morning as a part of the 28th annual Crazylegs Classic, which drew a record number of participants despite heavy rain.
18,541 walkers and runners participated in the 8K race, which stretched from the capitol building to Camp Randall.
Jeff Jonaitis of Tinley Park, Ill. took first overall with a time of 24:17. Katrina Rundhaug, a native of Dodgeville, Wis. and former University of Wisconsin runner, took the women’s title with a time of 27:46.
UW freshman River Karl placed first in the 15 to 19 age group and 15th overall with a time of 26:35.
As a first time participant, Karl said he was surprised by the size of the race.
“It was a pretty cool event. I didn’t realize it was that big,” Karl said. “You’re just surrounded by people the whole way during the race, and it was neat to have the UW athletic department there.”
Karl, who is a member of the UW triathlon team, said his training for Crazylegs overlapped with an event he competed in last weekend in Texas. While he said he felt confident about his abilities to compete, he was disappointingly placed in a late heat to start the race.
“I still did really well and other than that it would have been nice to be in a heat with the guys who were comparable competition,” Karl said. “I suppose for 18,000 people they have to separate it out somehow.”
UW junior Codie Dull was also a participant, placing 2nd in the 20 to 25 age group and 17th overall with a time of 26:48.
Dull, who described the event as a “community builder”, said because of the rain he was unable to accomplish his goal of running the course in under 26 minutes.
“I had to change my approach. I had to realize the rain, it adds extra weight to you,” Dull said. “From the start, it was slippery so there wasn’t much traction. You had to shorten up your strides. I wanted to run faster but I had to reduce my goal time because of the conditions.”
While the rain had many participants running for cover under awnings and other forms of shelter, Karl said the rain at least made the event a bit more interesting.
“It made it pretty epic towards the end with the rain coming down and ‘Rocky’ playing in the background, but I actually thought it made it more fun,” Karl said.
Started in 1982 to raise funds for the UW Athletic Department, Crazylegs has never been cancelled due to inclement weather.
“I was kind of disappointed to not see Bucky at all, but that wasn’t a big deal,” Karl said. “I’m definitely planning on racing next year.”
Dull said he is also planning on running Crazylegs next year, and added he is still striving to beat that 26-minute mark.
