Despite the thunderstorm and heavy rains at the Crazylegs Classic Saturday, UW-Madison senior Evan Wettengal managed to stay relatively dry during the race. His secret? Wettengal ran wearing a banana costume for the second year in a row.
""It got a little soggy, but it wasn't too bad,"" Wettengal said of his get-up. ""I just wanted to … be out with the people and run with some of my friends and hopefully make some people smile with that costume.""
The weather did not stop a record number of participants from running or walking through downtown Madison in the 28th annual Crazylegs. Nearly 19,000 people took part in the eight-kilometer race and two-mile walk from the Capitol Square to Camp Randall Stadium, with all proceeds going to Badger Athletics.
First-time Crazylegs participants took home the top honors in both the men's and women's races. Tinley Park, Ill., resident Jeff Jonaitis won the men's race with a time of 24 minutes, 17 seconds, and former UW-Madison cross country runner Katrina Rundhaug won the women's title with a time of 27 minutes, 46 seconds.
Competitive runners were not the only ones hitting the pavement on the Crazylegs route. UW-Madison sophomore Sarah Limper decided to run with a friend ""just for fun"" and said the rain actually helped in her first Crazylegs experience.
""It was cool running with a huge crowd of people the whole time, and the rain made it all interesting,"" Limper said. ""I think that made it better because it wasn't 80 degrees and [I wasn't] dying of heat.""
UW-Madison sophomore and Tri Delta sorority president Julie Chou said she started the race in a ""torrential downpour,"" but finishing on the 50-yard line of the football field at Camp Randall—not the weather—defined her first Crazylegs.
""It's just funny how miserable it was, but everyone was really positive still the entire time,"" Chou said.
