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Jeff Ferguson
Starting Line
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Doomsday Hill
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Spokane Falls
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Finish Line
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Jeff Ferguson
Vulture
By Don Kardong
If you saw the Lilac Bloomsday Run (“Bloomsday”) listed as one of the largest and most prestigious road races in the world, you’d only have half the story of this remarkable 12 km event in Spokane, Washington. The other half has nothing to do with foot speed, but rather with walkers, wheelchairs, strollers and an entire community getting on its feet on the first Sunday in May, and participating in a 12 km (7.5 mi) rite of spring. This year’s Bloomsday will be the 39th, and 50,000 participants are expected, including participants of all ages who travel to Spokane from all over the globe.
Bloomsday was born during the running boom that swept North America in the late 1970’s. I was a local runner, who moved to Spokane in 1974, competed in several national class road races before and after I participated in the 1976 Olympic Marathon in Montreal, and in the fall of 1976 I suggested to a local reporter that Spokane should have a downtown run of its own. The suggestion made its way into the newspaper's headlines.
Spokane was enjoying renewed interest in its downtown area after hosting the 1974 World's Fair (Expo '74), and a fun run that took advantage of the newly renovated downtown and Riverfront Park seemed a natural fit. Spokane Mayor David Rodgers encouraged me to pursue the idea, the local Jaycees adopted it as a project, and Medical Service Corporation joined as the event's major sponsor, supplying financial support and organizational expertise.
At 1:30 p.m., on May 1, 1977, over a thousand runners participated in the inaugural Lilac Bloomsday Run, which was billed "Run With the Stars" in posters announcing the event. Olympic gold and silver medalist Frank Shorter crossed the line first, followed by Herm Atkins of Seattle and myself. In the years since, Bloomsday’s world-class field has included many of the sport’s biggest names, like Bill Rodgers, Anne Audain, Jon Sinclair, Colleen De Reuck and Henry Rono. But just as important is the participation of thousands of citizen runners and walkers, who navigate a course that weaves back and forth across the Spokane River gorge. The infamous “Doomsday Hill” at the 8 km (5 mi) point is known around the globe. Nearly 30 on-course entertainers, along with a fair number of participants dressed in costumes, create a festive atmosphere along the 12 km route. And the chance to earn a coveted Bloomsday finisher’s T-shirt—the color and design of which are kept secret until the finish—keeps participants of all abilities moving toward the dramatic finish line above the falls in downtown Spokane.
The growth of Bloomsday in the late 70's and early 80's stunned organizers and the Greater Spokane community, as participation surged by almost 5,000 per year for a decade, reaching 57,300 in 1988 before leveling off for two years. In 1991, Bloomsday took another jump to 60,104, and in 1996 the event reached its all-time high of 61,298.
During years of explosive growth, volunteers helped devise systems to deal with bottlenecks at registration, the finish area, T-shirt distribution, and throughout the entire process. Those systems have allowed Bloomsday's size to increase without compromising the experience: each runner receives a postcard with time, place and finish position; T-shirts are given only to finishers; and every finisher is listed in the Souvenir Results Booklet distributed on Tuesday following the race.
Bloomsday volunteers—nearly 5,000 of them—pride themselves on producing a safe, exciting and enjoyable experience for all. That goal led to major changes for the 2006 race, when the finish line was moved to the north end of the Monroe Street Bridge, above Spokane Falls, and a new timing system using transponder chips was implemented. The chips allowed all participants to start on Riverside Avenue and to be recorded based on "net" time from start to finish.
During its history, the Lilac Bloomsday Run has added prize money for top runners and wheelchair racers, and the event consistently attracts the world's top competitors. Bloomsday has been a member of the ARRA and PRRO Circuits of major running events, and in 1996 Bloomsday hosted the first PRRO World Road Running Championships. Over the years the race has been featured in Runner's World and The Runner magazines, as well as on television on ESPN, Fox Sports Northwest, and the Outdoor Life Network.
In its 38-year history, over one million-and-a-half runners, joggers, walkers and wheelchairs have crossed the finish line. After nearly four decades, Bloomsday has worked its way into the fabric of life in the Inland Northwest. For most residents, it's impossible to imagine spring in Spokane without Bloomsday, when the world comes to join the fun.