Crazylegs Classic | Knit Epsilon

The full marathon is only about six months away and it was time for my next training race. Crazylegs Classic is HUGE in Madison and, since in goes on part of the marathon course, it seemed like the perfect choice. It is an 8K (about 5 miles) and I don’t think it is a very common distance. Most races are 5K or 10K, so I don’t really know why it is as long as it is, but carrying on…

The weather was perfect! Sunny and in the mid-50s, which is the most exquisite running weather. The last race I ran was why-the-f**k-am-I-outside cold and windy, so this was a nice change.

My friend Allie came to cheer me on and we got there kind of early, so we got coffee and stayed in the coffee shop until it was time to line up, which allowed me to use an actual bathroom instead of the alternative. Porta-Potties are an essential part of race day and I see why they are important in managing the bathroom needs of such a large crowd of people, but the truth is that a small piece of my soul dies every time I have to use one. Eww.

I was super excited to line up for the race start at 10. Here we go! But, wait! Just kidding! I think some 20,000 runners do Crazylegs every year, and so they had us leaving in waves. My wave didn’t even reach the starting line until about 10:40. We just marched around the Capital Square behind a guy carrying our wave banner like some spandex wearing military troop for what felt like forever, and then we were really off!

The run was beautiful! We went along the coast of Lake Mendota in Madison, which is always gorgeous to see. There was an absolutely killer hill about a mile in, but after that the course was mostly downhill and flat. At this point in my running career, I’m not really that focused on beating my previous times. I like to enjoy myself on race day and view it as being a celebration of all the training and hard work I have put in to prepare. I ran at a comfortable pace and conserved my energy.

Then, at about mile 4, something incredible happened. I thought I had experienced a runner’s high before, but never quite to this extreme. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was so close to the end or that I was surrounded by all of these other amazing runners, but all of a sudden my legs stopped hurting. Actually, it was more like they felt weightless. And I started to run fast. I was passing people left and right, ducking in between groups. I have no way of knowing just how fast I ran the last mile, but I know I felt amazing doing it, almost like I floated over the finish line, which was on the turf in Camp Randall stadium, the pride and joy of the UW Football team.