Congratulations to Councilwoman Amber Waldref, this year's top Bloomsday finisher among elected leaders (at least among those whose time we checked).

She easily beat out the rest of her City Council cohorts, though in defense of the others, she is the youngest elected official we located who ran the race.

Spin Control also offers the following trophy-less awards:

Participation Award: The Spokane County Commission. All three members finished the race. They are a shining example to the legislators serving the Third Legislative District. None of them completed the race even though the race is in their district.

Doomsday Hill Award: Jon Snyder, barely beat out Michael Baumgartner for the fastest time up Pettet Drive.

Here are the finishers we found. They are a bit slower than last year when former county commissioner and mountain climber John Roskelley ran the race.

In parenthesis are the official's age, followed by his or her final time, per-mile pace and his or her time on Doomsday Hill.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

As I looked out my window today, all I could think of were the lyrics to a Three Dog Night song. Isn't that sad? Read on.

Maybe you have noticed this.

Someone asks if you are doing Bloomsday. You answer that you are not. And the person to whom you are speaking leaps to the assumption that you actively dislike the annual event.

Since when does not participating imply hostility?

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It is the first of May. The fifth month of 2013. The beginning of the best time of year. Read on.

What percentage of people around here, after all these years, still totally don't get that the origins of “Bloomsday” are literary, not vernal?

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee will be on the court Saturday at Hoopfest in a team that also includes Democratic state House candidate Marcus Riccelli.

Their team, the Evergreen Dream Team, will play its first game at 8 a.m. Saturday on Washington Street between Main and Riverside, according to a news release.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna already participated in a popular Spokane sporting event this year. He ran Bloomsday.

Among the elected leaders and politicians running for office, it should be no surprise that John Roskelley won the race.

Roskelley, a candidate for Spokane County Commission, had the best Bloomsday time among all elected Spokane and Spokane Valley city leaders; state House and state Senate candidates for districts within Spokane County; Spokane County commissioner candidates; and gubernatorial candidates.

Roskelley is, afterall, a world-renowned mountain climber.

Here is the list of local politicians (plus a governor hopeful) who completed Bloomsday:

1. John Roskelley, D, candidate for Spokane County Commission, 0:59:00
2. Rob McKenna, R, candidate for governor, 1:00:21
3. Amber Waldref, Spokane city councilwoman, 1:07:52
4. Marcus Riccelli, D, candidate for state House, 1:08:27
5. Steve Salvatori, Spokane city councilman, 1:17:00
6. Amy Biviano, D, candidate for state House, 1:17:16
7. Dennis Dellwo, D, candidate for state House, 1:20:08
8. Tom Towey, Spokane Valley mayor, 1:28:14
9. Brenda Grassel, Spokane Valley city councilwoman, 2:13:47
10. David Condon, Spokane mayor, 2:41:52
11. Michael Baumgartner, R, state Senator and candidate for U.S. Senate, 2:47:31

During the first year of our married life, my wife and I lived in a second-floor apartment on Riverside that looked down on the Bloomsday course.

On that race day morning, we opened multiple windows and listened to the thousands of sneakers springing and scuffing on the boulevard below. It went on and on, like an invasion of land octopi. And it made for a uniquely Spokaney breakfast accompaniment.

Neither of us have ever had that religious feeling about Bloomsday that some people seem to experience.

But we will never forget that sound.

Who remembers when the special viewing platform on the back of the Bloomsday media truck came apart near the starting line in 1988, spilling photographers and reporters onto Riverside just as the race began?

…connected in a roundabout way to Bloomsday.

www.filmforager.com

Leo (Gene Wilder) is on the right. But you knew that.

The story behind the name of Spokane's event?

www.bryantpark.org

www.liberateulysses.com

It'll never happen.

But for those who battle springtime allergies and have to take medications to stave off allergy-induced asthma, the race could not come at a worse time of year.

Still, there wouldn't be much support for…

A summertime Bloomsday: Too hot.

An autumnal Bloomsday: Too busy.

A winter Bloomsday: Too much chance that only 43 people would register.

Oh, well. Allergy sufferers seldom get their way.

Next: Bring Your Dog To Work Day vs. The Right to Breathe.    

Thursday is the real  Bloomsday (of the James Joyce variety), which means it's also the day of Spokane's  annual Limerick Literary Pub Crawl and Traditional Irish Dinner.

For $50, you can accompany a bagpiper, a bard or two and a band of like-minded revelers through downtown Spokane's Irish and/or literary minded pubs, including Cyrus O'Learys, ODoherty's, the Blue Spark, the Satellite and the Onion.

You'll have discounted libations at every stop, along with music and literary readings. At The Onion, you'll also have a full Irish dinner — salmon crusted with oatmeal, etc.

Registration should have been made in advance, but maybe if you're lucky there will still be a few spots left. Call Kerry Lynch at (509) 990-7513 for info. This is sponsored by the Spokane-Limerick Sister City Society,

Melanie Jones of Post Falls pours water on the head of her son Grant, 9, at the water station on Broadway at Bloomsday on Sunday. SR stories about Bloomsday winners below. (SR photo: Jesse Tinsley)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Rain today, then better weather for rest of the week/Spokesman-Review
• Idaho congressional delegation's statement on Bin Laden death/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Bloomsday SR 2-fer: Ndirangu surges past Kiprono to win Bloomsday men’s title/ Jim Meehan; and: Mekonnin holds off Ayalew in sprint for women’s crown/Greg Lee, SR
• Author Laughey takes stand at megaloads hearing/Betsy Russell, EOB
• AAA: Average price of gas in Washington $4.01/KHQ
• Coeur d'Alene Casino expansion opening today/CdA Press
• Fairchild security heightened after Bin Laden kill/Jeff Humphrey, KXLY
• Prosecutors wrapping up Steele murder-for-hire case/Associated Press

John Stucke reports on Washington state’s new health insurance exchange, which is designed to help upward of 50,000 small businesses attain health insurance for their employees. As with many things linked to the federal Affordable Care Act, the exchange is controversial, untested, and the financial risks unknown.

Columnist Bert Caldwell writes about the Lilac Bloomsday Association and race director Don Kardong. “The association’s business model is a marvel of economy,” Bert says.

Bloomsday elite athlete coordinator Jon Neill said out of the chute that the 35th edition of the 12-kilometer run will have to go far to top the world record-breaking performance in the 34th race. There’s plenty of reason, though, why Sunday’s race should make its own headlines. Lineth Chepkurui from Kenya will be seeking her fourth consecutive women’s title. More here. (SR file photo)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Tuesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Hucks Online
• Inland Northwest drying out before next storm/Mike Prager, SR
• 'Schweitzer Sam', resort designer, dies/Alison Boggs, SR
• Prosecutors: Case against Steele 'simple'/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels
• 16YO youngest ever to graduate from WSU/Eric Wilkinson, King 5
• Mining attire urged for miner Marek's memorial/KREM
• Opinion: What is the rush to expand charters?/Kevin Richert, Statesman

FITNESS — Even if you're not a runner, Spokane's annual Bloomsday run is a great motivation to improve the fitness needed for outdoor pursuits, whether its hiking, hunting, fishing, geocaching — whatever.

Join the thousands of people for the he 7.5-mile run/walk on May 1. You'll be telling the world that Spokane is a special place as you  jumpstart your summer outdoor season.

April 17 is the last day for registering online before the $15 entry fee goes up.
  

Most people miss the link between the June 16 Bloomsday, which was coined 88 years ago in the James Joyce novel “Ulysses,” with Spokane’s Bloomsday, which involves 50,000 people running 12 kilometers around town on the first Sunday in May. Garrison Keillor is no exception. Keillor, a nationally acclaimed oral storyteller, led the cast and musicians of his National Public Radio show as they performed two hours of skits and songs to the obvious delight of 5,300 people who nearly packed the Arena’s Star Theatre. Midway, Keillor devoted 4 minutes to a monologue highlighting Spokane life. But he made an error that begs to be corrected. In mentioning the city’s signature events, such as Hoopfest, he noted that “Bloomsday does not refer to James Joyce’s novel, ‘Ulysses,’ but to the lilacs” that bloom in spring. Wrong/Rich Landers, SR. More here.

Question: What do you like most re: Garrison Keillor’s show, “A Prairie Home Companion”?

If you saw Mayor Mary Verner on the Bloomsday course and wondered what her time was, don’t bother checking the race site or the newly published tabloid.

She’s not in there.

Verner did walk the course with her 7-year-old granddaughter Bariah. But she wasn’t an official participant…She forgot to sign up.

Through a spokeswoman, Verner acknowledged Wednesday that she didn’t register and pay her fee. And no, she didn’t grab a T-shirt at the end, either.

She said she’d promised a while back to push Bariah in a stroller, then “suddenly it was the weekend and she realized she hadn’t signed up.” Marlene Feist related.

Verner reportedly thought about not doing the race, but a promise is a promise. They went down and joined some friends who were walking the race. She also reportedly thought about bailing halfway through the race, but stuck it out.

“She went for a walk and just happened to be going the same way as 45,000 other people,” Feist said.

Today is the day, folks! Stretch those calves! Double-knot those laces!  Got your Powerbar? Good…because today is Bloomsday.

So who is running Bloomsday this morning? Ever run in the past? What’s the best part? The worst? (I hear there’s a pretty nasty hill….)