I'm a little leery of sharing my bucket list with you because, frankly, it has zero pizzazz.

No mountains to climb, channels to swim or safaris to arrange.

No wonders of the world.

No dinners in the company of historic titans.

It's also a pretty modest list, which you could interpret as a lack of ambition, imagination, or both.

That it continues to evolve is another reason why I hesitate to bring the list to light. If an item is added, then removed, it doesn't speak very well of my priorities now, does it?

Then there's this: There's at least one item on the list that should have been crossed off a long time ago, and it didn't get taken care of this year, either.

Anyone with the slightest connection to University of Wisconsin sports should participate in the Crazylegs Classic, which was staged for the 28th time Saturday.

Many have, including the record 18,541 who took part in the 8-kilometer run, the wheelchair competition or 2-mile walk.
The event has evolved from an idea over beers to an annual rite of spring that lures entries from all over and is lauded as one of the best of its kind in the nation.

I was there in 1982 when the first Crazylegs was staged and about 1,500 souls took part. I thought it was a novel idea to help raise money for the UW Athletic Department, which took in about $9,500 that weekend, but I'm pretty sure I didn't give much thought to its future.

Look at it now.

The Crazylegs Classic represents an enduring, educational timeline for a generation of Badgers fans who know only of wealth, prestige and achievement.

The event has roots to a time when there was tremendous friction between school officials and UW athletics. To put it mildly, then-chancellor Irving Shain wasn't a fan, much less an advocate. Money was tight and if you showed up to watch the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium or the old Field House, you came with hope, not expectations.

The Crazylegs Classic evolved through the rock-bottom times of the late 1980s and early '90s, when unwanted football tickets mysteriously showed up on your windshield.

That growth continued through the Richter Renaissance to the moment at hand when UW athletics, its pockets deeper than most, is jostling annually to keep its place among the NCAA elite.

I've been around long enough to have seen the race's iconic namesake, Elroy Hirsch, serve as UW athletic director, retire and, sadly, pass away in 2004.

But, due to scheduling conflicts, I've never run in the Crazylegs Classic.

It's on my bucket list, though, mixed in with wanting to walk down Baggot Street in Dublin, Ireland, visit the beaches of Normandy, take in the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., and see Australia.

These items may lack pizzazz, but I relish the idea of one day crossing them off my bucket list.