Crazy About Crazylegs
The popular run/walk has been a harbinger of spring in Madison for more than four decades.
Participants celebrate at the after-party for the 2024 Crazylegs Classic. Runner’s World magazine listed the perennial favorite in its Top 100 events. Bryce Richter
The Crazylegs Classic race is the brainchild of three running buddies who wanted to raise money for UW athletics and boost attendance at the spring football game. Tom Grantham ’61, Ken Sparks ’72, ’74, and Rich Backus, who were fans of then–Athletic Director Elroy Hirsch x’45, asked his permission to christen the race Crazylegs after the nickname Hirsch earned for his unique running style as a UW football player.
The first runners kicked up their heels in 1982, when the event drew 1,525 participants and raised $9,500. The 8K run, held on the last Saturday of April, starts on Library Mall and winds through campus. Organizers added a two-mile walk in 1987 and an 8K wheelchair race in 2005. Five years later, Crazylegs set a record with 20,415 competitors, but participants are now capped at 10,000, with athletes hailing from all over Wisconsin and, typically, about a dozen other states.
According to Shane Burgess, an assistant athletic director for event operations, each year some 30 to 40 teams made up of colleagues from various companies, organizations, and families compete, adding to the community spirit.
And that spirit prevails despite Wisconsin’s unpredictable weather, which saw runners facing high winds and sleet in 1988 and some seven inches of snow in 1994 and 2019. Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could stop the race, as close to 2,000 fans participated virtually in 2021. The event has drawn more than 354,000 contestants since its inception.
The 43rd Crazylegs this past spring marked a return to the football field at Camp Randall for the popular after-party, which had moved to the Kohl Center due to stadium construction.
Nick Pasquarello ’94, MS’18, director of the National W Club for athletics alumni, says that the race is one of campus’s most iconic events. “It’s a rallying point and a great opportunity to bring people back to Madison and back to campus to share Badger camaraderie.”
Burgess adds that the family-friendly event has become more than just an athletics fundraiser. It also has a big impact on the Madison economy, generating a significant chunk of the $462 million brought in annually by athletics department events.
Published in the Summer 2025 issue
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