With thunderstorms and driving rains in the forecast for Saturday, organizers of the Crazylegs Classic had good reason to be concerned about the overall turnout.

Not only did 18,541 runners and walkers participate, it set a record for the 28-year event.

"I think this is an exclamation point for Badger fans," said Terry Murawski, Executive Director of the W Club. "You could not have scripted a worse day unless you had snow; it's chilly, it's raining, it's rained hard through the race, and people are still coming over the finish line an hour after we started."

Murawski acknowledged there were no-shows, but said Saturday morning's registration at the Kohl Center "had a line out the door looking to participate."

"We're showing continued growth, which tells us that we put on a good event," Murawski said. "This is a great way for people to have fun and support Badger athletics."

Worthwhile causes

Not everybody in the event was running or walking competitively. There were 221 Fun and Fitness teams - including many first-time entrants - involving more than 4,000 participants.

Steve Peyton's autistic 14-year-old son, Kevin, passed away in October 2008. Since one of Kevin's favorite events was Crazylegs, Steve thought he'd organize a group, called the Kevin Peyton Crazylegs Memorial Team.

Steve Peyton was blown away by the end result: the 150-member group was announced at Camp Randall Stadium as the second-largest Fun and Fitness team at the event.

"We enjoyed it together as a father-and-son duo, and now to have 150 people here, it's unbelievable," Peyton said. "We're just a bunch of friends and families; we're not a corporation or business. It's pretty neat, I'm very proud."

Kevin ran cross country at Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains, and many of his teammates and teachers showed up to support Kevin.

"We knew that the weather could be a factor, but it adds to the memories now," Peyton said. "We'll remember that first one, when we ran through a rainstorm."

Another group was Lance's Team, running to support of 14-year-old Lance Tarnutzer, who was diagnosed with diabetes in September. The group had 55 participants (ranging from sixth-graders to teachers to Lance's 75-year-old grandmother) who made donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Lance's behalf.

"He's a real outgoing, personable kid," said Elli Tarnutzer, Lance's mother. "Everybody likes him. He's just a good kid overall."

Asked what it means to have over so many people participate in Crazylegs to help her son, Tarnutzer teared up.
"We appreciate their support, it's great," Tarnutzer said. "We're ecstatic that they're here willing to do this for Lance and hopefully finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes."

Team Tini had 65 runners and walkers from the same martini club, and were sponsored by Smokey's Club and Three Olives Vodka. Group coordinator Bob Perry collected $2,300 in group donations that will go to the American Family Children's Hospital.

"Last year, one of our ladies told us she saw a guy running with a martini, so we have to get a group started," Perry said. "We got some nice support for the Children's Hospital. Hopefully, I can do this every year."

Odds and ends

Participants used a new "D-Tag Chronotrak" system, where orange tags were tied to racers' shoes and registered their start and finish times, automatically clocking their end result. ... Murawski said he had not heard of any serious injuries. ... Interesting costumes included people dressed as the Miller Park sausages to a man dressed as former University of Wisconsin All-America offensive tackle Joe Thomas from head (helmet) to toe (knee pads and football socks). Two others wore a banana costume and a seashell bikini. ... A concert by the Eddie Butts Band was canceled due to the weather, but the UW marching band did perform its Fifth Quarter for those who stayed at Camp Randall Stadium.