‘Everybody wants to come’: Bloomsday elite race organizers expect deep, competitive fields

Many traditional athletic and social institutions have taken time to rebound from the pandemic. Bloomsday is no exception.

Last year’s edition – the first in-person race since 2019 – was a measured success as participant numbers and elite racers approached traditional capacity.

“We’re almost back up to pre-COVID numbers,” Bloomsday pioneer Don Kardong said. “And we’re a bump up over last year. So it’s really good and I think it’s gonna be like it’s supposed to be, which is a tradition in Spokane that a lot of people look forward to every year.”

Organizers believe the elite men’s, women’s and wheelchair fields for Sunday’s 47th running of Bloomsday could be among the most competitive put together in the history of the event.

“It’s full,” elite athlete coordinator Andy LeFriec said. “It was to a point where we were out of money to bring in more athletes. Everybody wants to come, so that’s really exciting.”

“This is a great field that Andy has put together,” Kardong added. “I wish I was on the men’s (pace) truck actually instead of walking in the back of the pack. I’ll find out (results) later on, but I think it’s gonna be great race.”

LeFriec said it’s not just the sheer number of elite athletes – 55 in the men’s field, 26 in the women’s – but the quality of the depth of the fields.

“It means that hopefully we have a large pack going toward Doomsday Hill, and nobody can kind of sit back or kind of wait as the field goes on.”

The men’s race is headlined by 2018 Bloomsday champion Jemal Yimer and American Reid Buchanan.

Yimer, 26, is the Ethiopian national record-holder in the half marathon (58.33), placed third in the Boston Marathon in 2021 and is a two-time Cherry Blossom 10-mile champion. He was ranked No. 2 in the world in road running over the 2018 and ’19 seasons as recorded by World Athletics.

Buchanan, 30, finished second in last year’s race with a time of 35:08, edged at the line by Charles Wanjiku. Buchanan grew up in Manhattan, Kansas, and ran for University of Portland in college, placing fifth in the 2016 NCAA 10K outdoor championships.

In 2019, he won the silver medal in the men’s 10,000-meter event at the Pan American Games and won the bronze medal in 10k event at the NACAC Cross Country Championships.

“When you have a field like this, there’s somebody who’s gonna go out there and peg it, and there’s somebody who’s gonna go with them, and it all of a sudden takes a No. 1 runner and makes them have to push themselves,” LeFriec said. “That’s when we find that our times get really low.”

Temperatures on Sunday morning are expected to be in the mid-40s.

“That’s where the course-record type times come from is good weather, and then a very deep field where they get pushed for a long time,” LeFriec added.

LeFriec was just as excited about the women’s field.

Two-time Bloomsday winner (2015, ’16) and course record-holder (38:03) Cynthia Limo will be in the No. 1 bib. She holds the fastest 10-mile time run for women on American soil.

The No. 2 is Kiera D’Amato, who holds the American women’s marathon record at 2:19.12 at the 2022 Houston Marathon. She was a USATF national champion in three categories in 2021: half marathon, 6k and 20k.

“The only way we’re not getting fireworks (in the women’s race) is if Cynthia Limo just pegs it,” LeFriec said. “She could go out and just says ‘Hey, I’m running the course record pace until I blow up or until I’ve broken my own course record.’

“That would be exciting in its own right. Otherwise, yeah, we’re gonna get some fireworks.”

The women’s wheelchair division is led by returning women’s champion, five-time winner and course record-holder (29.58) Susannah Scaroni from Tekoa, fresh off her recent first win at the Boston Marathon, and Parasport Spokane alumni Hannah Dederick.

This is the first Bloomsday since former race director Jon Neill resigned citing a “toxic” work environment last October. LeFriec acknowledged “challenges in putting on a race without some key valuable employees,” but noted, “we’re at a really great place now as a board of directors who’s running the race.

“We have all learned a lot more about our areas. And the race, I think, is just set to go without a hitch. So there’s been stressful moments, you know, and learning experiences for all of us. But Bloomsday is in a great place right now.”