Adam Nickel's passion for running reached its peak in Madison.

And that passion will live on Saturday, when a team of Nickel's friends and Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin co-workers participate in the Crazylegs Classic in memory of the 27-year-old Kaukauna native and University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy graduate student who died shortly after completing the Little Rock (Ark.) Marathon on March 2.

"A lot of us that worked at our Capitol Clinic pharmacy, we wanted to get together and just talk because (Nickel's death) was a shock to us," GHC-SCW employee and team captain Mark Wilberg said. "In that talk, we decided to do something in his memory. Adam loved running, and this is a way we can honor his memory."

Nearly 90 people will take part in the Crazylegs' 8K run or 2-mile walk as part of the Adam Nickel/GHC-SCW team, with most wearing yellow T-shirts with Nickel's picture on the back.

"It's amazing to see that many people remembering Adam and doing something he loved. Crazylegs was his favorite race to run. To see that many people getting out there and being out there and active, he would have been amazed," said Sarah Balzar, a close friend of Nickel's who is part of the Crazylegs team. "I'm excited to be around so many people who are all out there for him."

Nickel, who graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton in 2003, arrived in Madison shortly thereafter and took a job as a pharmacy technician at GHC-SCW's Capitol Clinic.

In 2005, he enrolled in UW's School of Pharmacy, and continued working at the Capitol Clinic part-time while pursuing a graduate degree.

It was during that time when running returned to the forefront of Nickel's athletic pursuits.

"He was always a really athletic and (running) was just something he liked to do," Balzar said of Nickel, who ran cross country and track in high school, but wrestled at Lawrence. "His mom always said his favorite part of running races was finishing and finishing strong. He couldn't do something halfway. Once he put his mind to something, he was going to do it."

Nickel completed his first marathon in 2005, finishing 23rd overall in the Fox Cities Marathon. Nickel finished eighth overall in the event in 2006, and 22nd overall in 2007.

Nickel also ran the Boston Marathon in 2007, finishing 709th in a field of more than 20,000. And he turned in a strong showing at the Las Vegas Marathon last December, finishing 55th overall.

Nickel finished 18th overall at the Little Rock Marathon, covering the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours, 2 minutes and 7 seconds.

But shortly after crossing the finish line, Nickel collapsed and died. According to an Associated Press report, a difficult-to-detect heart condition known as multifocal small coronary artery fibromuscular dysplasia (narrow heart arteries that tend to restrict the flow of blood) combined with electrolyte abnormalities that can result from running long distances caused Nickel's death.

"This was like a lightning bolt out of the blue, very bad luck that he had this unseen silent abnormality in his heart muscle," Dr. Stephen J. Erickson, a pathologist with the Arkansas state crime laboratory, told the AP. "This is a very, very rare kind of event."

Nickel was running the Little Rock Marathon in preparation for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on June 1 in San Diego.

He had raised more than $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in conjunction with the San Diego event. GHC-SCW is planning to donate $2,500 toward that cause in Nickel's name.

In addition, the UW School of Pharmacy has established the Adam Nickel Memorial Scholarship Fund through the UW Foundation to honor a pharmacy doctoral student with a passion for athletics and exercise and a commitment to helping others as evidenced by fund-raising activities or community service.

"It will honor Adam's memory permanently, and highlight the features of his life and the things he found important and compelling," School of Pharmacy dean Jeanette Roberts said. "We're committed to continuing with those things in his honor."

As are those who are partaking in the Crazylegs as a tribute to Nickel.

"When I'm running, I'm going to be thinking of him the whole way. I think all of us are," Wilberg said. "That's going to make us bound and determined to finish this race. And at the end were going to get together and say, 'Adam I hope you're up there looking down at us. This is for you.' "