Crazylegs and Easter with the Greeks!

What a weekend! I participated in my first ever Crazylegs Classic which was so much fun! It is an annual race that started in 1982 and includes an 8K run or a 2 mile walk. The run and walk both started at the capital square at 10am Saturday morning. The whole square was packed with runners in outfits ranging from serious spandex running gear to one guy in a ballerina skirt, I wish I could have brought my camera for pictures!

I met up with some friends around 9:30am, the Farmers Market was going full swing and music from the Badger Marching Band was playing in the background. Bucky the Badger was also there to cheer on the racers. We chowed down on some famous spicy cheese bread and went to our different starting locations.

The run started opposite the State Capital Building and ended at the 50 yard line in Camp Randall Stadium where there was free beer and fruit for all the racers. Only in Wisconsin would a morning run end in free unlimited beer! Once you are done with the race you try to find your friends amongst the chaos (as everyone else is also finding their friends) and stand in the bleachers of Camp Randall watching the rest of the runners stream in. I think runners were still coming in 2 hours after the start of the race. After the beer ran dry we continued our celebration by touring some of Madison's local bars and establishments. By the end of the day I was exhausted.

On Sunday I went to my friend Zoe's parents house, my second family, to celebrate Greek Easter. Zoe currently lives in Athens but her sisters were both home for the event along with a crowd of other family friends. I don't know the names of all the food we had but it was DELICIOUS and I was stuffed. We had lamb, Spanakopia (a spinach and feta dish), shrimp and feta, potatoes, pitas, homemade humus, traditional Greek bread, more feta, more spinach, veggies, salad, wine and a spread of Greek desserts. There is one dessert that I just cannot stomach. They are called "spoon sweets" and basically are different jellies with chunks of whatever the flavor is. The flavors included Walnut, Bitter Orange, Rose Leaves, Quince, and EGGPLANT...yes Eggplant. I tried one bite of Bitter Orange and my willingness to try new things abandoned me. Zoe called from Greece during dinner and is doing really well. I hope I can visit her sometime!

After dinner we played a game where everyone takes a hardboiled egg that has been dyed red, shouts out "Happy Easter" in Greek ("Christos Anesti!"), and then tries to break another person's egg with your own. My eggshells broke right away as I am not as experienced in the game but some people lasted a few rounds. In the end there is always someone with a wooden egg who wins!