233. Bloomsday

I’ve already written about running in a zillion different ways because I love it. There is a particular race that I especially love: Lilac Bloomsday in Spokane, Washington. It occurs on the first Sunday of every May and has been happening since 1977—46 years!

Spokane is beautiful at this time of year because all the trees are beginning to bloom. Some years (not this one) the lilacs have actually started to bloom. The river is full of water from the snow melt in the mountains so the falls are rushing, noisy and beautiful. The Inland Northwest is full of active people, so Bloomsday brings us out by the thousands. Some years it has been upwards of 50 thousand. That’s a lot of people running the streets of a small city that is only a few hundred thousand itself.

I don’t honestly know how many times I’ve run the race. The first times I did it in the mid 80’s I was quite competitive so I would get right up on the starting line and run as fast as I could for 12K—more than seven miles. My goal was to always beat 50 minutes and I did it. Now my goal is usually somewhere around an hour fifteen if I’m feeling prepared for the distance. This year I was definitely not prepared for the distance, but I still did it in an hour twenty-five minutes. I was pleased with that because I haven’t run anything beyond three since December.

I always see people I haven’t seen in a while. They are people who live in the Inland Northwest but I don’t keep in touch with. It’s a great place and time to reconnect and celebrate by running. This year I reconnected with a former student. Sometimes I see people from Potlatch. I almost always try to connect with some people from Potlatch, maybe catching a ride or planning to run it together. I missed it over the last two pandemic years, but I did it remotely and somehow still felt connected to the community. It’s a great social event and a great race. I just love Bloomsday!