Bloomsday Run

A Northwest running tradition, the Lilac Bloomsday Run, also known as Bloomsday, is an annual timed road race in Spokane, held on the first Sunday of May. Originally conceived by Olympian Don Kardong, the event began in 1977. The course length is 12 km (7.456 mi).

The run has had over 40,000 participants every year since 1986, and peaked 23 years ago in 1996 with 61,298 registered. The number of finishers in 2015 was 43,206. Lineth Chepkurui set an unofficial 12 km world record in the 2010 women’s race.

The course record of 33:51 was set 11 years ago in 2008 by Micah Kogo, a pace of 4:32.4 per mile and an average speed of 13.217 mph (21.3 km/h). The women’s record of 38:03 was set in 2016 by Cynthia Limo, a 5:06.2 per mile pace and an average speed of 11.758 mph (18.9 km/h).

Don Kardong cites James Joyce’s Ulysses as the inspiration for the name Bloomsday.

Kardong had hoped for five hundred participants for the inaugural edition, but got nearly triple that. The second edition had over five thousand, and the third in 1979 was over ten thousand, with fifty thousand spectators lining the streets. The sixth edition in 1982 had over 22,000, and despite rain and some snow, there were over 30,000 in 1984.