A bloomie stretches before the start of Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
The wheelchair racers take off down Riverside Avenue at the start of Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
The wheelchair racers take off down Riverside Avenue at the start of Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
The elite, corporate cup and brown divisions take off at the start of Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash.. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
The elite, corporate cup and brown divisions run down Riverside Avenue at the start of Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
Bloomies wait for the start of Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
The main field takes off on Bloomsday 2012, Sunday, May 6, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman Review)
Michelle Wilson, left, and Andrea Stobbe, center, stand facing the crowd of runners coming up Riverside to Governement Way. The two medical personnel were stationed to prevent runners from tripping over the median strip. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Dan Hess, left, runs a homebuilt spray contraption and adds the spray of a handheld hose along Fort Wright Drive near Spokane Falls Community College. Hess manages an apartment building along the race route. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Allan Kiprono, of Kenya, hits the finish line to win Bloomsday 2012.. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Mamitu Daska dashes down Broadway Avenue, past previous race shirts, to win the Bloomsday 2012 Women's Elite division. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Mamitu Daska broke away and won the women's elite division. She gets some competition from neighborhood children. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Mamitu Daska dashes down Monroe Street to win the women's elite division. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
"I'm thankful that I'm done" says Cyndi Kelly, 54, as she celebrates her finishing time of 52:34. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Mamitu Daska dashes all alone down Broadway Avenue to win the women's elite division. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Grant Bunney passes out finisher shirts on Spokane Falls Blvd. Grant was born on May 4, nine years ago on Bloomsday. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
The women's elite division start breaks from the starting line on Riverside Avenue. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Issac Hilton, 15, readies himself for start. Issac was running with the Perennials in place of his grandfather, Arthur Hilton, of Kellogg, Idaho, who was in the hospital. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
The first wave of wheelchair racers edge up to the starting line for Bloomsday 2012. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Discarded clothing, tossed by Bloomsday 2012 participants, blow in the morning breeze as the last of the strollers head for the starting line. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Mamitu Daska takes water on the top of Doomsday Hill after she broke away from the pack and on her way to winning the 2012 Women's Elite division. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Bloomsday founder and race director, Don Kardong, displays his Bloomsday 2012 finisher T-shirt. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Bloomsday 2012 participants bounce beach balls along Riverside Avenue before the start of the race. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Spokane Mayor David Condon drops a Bloomsday flag for the wheel chair start. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Margaret Swanson, 90, walks Bloomsday for the 30th time, accompanied by her son John Swanson and niece and nephew Jody and Rick Malsam. About 20 of "Grandma Swanson's" family participates in Bloomsday. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Marian Meredith plays accordion with the group Good Ole Stuff on Riverside Avenue. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Barbara Barmore, left, and her sister Marilyn Beck, right, walk the race in honor of Barmore's husband, Hank Barmore, who died in February. Hank was a 30-year Bloomie. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Kate Burns and her daughter Annika, 17 months old, watch the elite men's field pass them on Riverside Avenue near Government Way. Burns watches the race from the same spot each year looking for children of friends who run the race. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Linda Knoll, Stephanie McQueen, Morgan McQueen and MaKenzie Knoll walk up Fort Wright Drive in their handmade costumes. Linda Knoll, left, is an aunt to the other three girls, who are cousins. "They talked me into this." (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Artist Sean Ravencraft, dressed in a costume of his own creation. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Al Vernon uses a shovel to clean up used water cups along Government Way after Bloomsday. Vernon was volunteering with radio station KMBI, which sponsored the water stop. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
James and Elizabeth Forsyth, right and center, and friend Collin Fossell pass the 3-mile marker. Fossell is blind and hangs on to Elizabeth's wheelchair for the race. Elizabeth carries an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. "We need her today," she said. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The pack of runners moves up Government Way hill. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The crowd flows up Government Way hill as the density of runners peaks. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Crowds of walkers and runners head south, away from Riverfront Park, across Riverside Avenue. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral choir warms up on the steps of the church before the start. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The crowd builds to a crescendo on Riverside Avenue approaching Government Way. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
A group of ROTC members from Gonzaga University run up Riverside to Government Way. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
LeAnn Swanson, a nurse with Horizon Hospice, sprays sunscreen on a young runner at the top of Government Way hill. Medical personnel offered bandages, tissues, sunscreen and petroleum jelly as runners passed. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Spectators young and old gather at the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Government Way to watch the action. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Eventual wheelchair winner Scott Parson speeds down Riverside Avenue. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The crush of the crowd fills the width of Government Way. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Eventual wheelchair winner Scott Parson speeds down Riverside Avenue in the first mile. Parson won with a time of 29:58. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Paul Davis, right, completes a pre-race crossword puzzle as his coach Kevin Paulson, left, looks on at the starting line. The pair started the race together. (The Spokesman-Review)
Kenya's Allan K. Kiprono leads the elite men's race. (The Spokesman-Review)
Runners and walkers cross the finish line. (The Spokesman-Review)
Hoardes of runners and walkers cross the finish line. (The Spokesman-Review)
Thien Nguyen, 18, of Spokane pulls puts his shirt and singlet over his head after finishing. (The Spokesman-Review)
The Elite Men's race moves across T.J. Meenach Bridge. (The Spokesman-Review)
Robert K Letting (106) right, and Macdonard Ondara (103) battle it out for second place. (The Spokesman-Review)
Duncan Vance of Edmonton, Alberta, center, wears a garbage sack to keep warm before the start. (The Spokesman-Review)
Members of the Elite Men's race battle it out before hitting Doomsday Hill. (The Spokesman-Review)
Kenya's Allan K. Kiprono makes his move on the way up Doomsday Hill to take the lead. (The Spokesman-Review)
Kenya's Allan K. Kiprono leads. (The Spokesman-Review)
Kenya's Allan K. Kiprono (101) leads Robert K. Letting. (The Spokesman-Review)
Robert K. Letting (106) and Macdonard Ondara (103) battle it out for second place. (The Spokesman-Review)
Spokane Valley's Evan A. Sims was the top finisher in the Washington division. (The Spokesman-Review)
Runners sprint for the finish line. (The Spokesman-Review)
Amber Slye, 31of Liberty Lake hugs her son, Carter, 8, after he completed his first Bloomsday race. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
Adelaide Bruce of Liberty Lake grabs a cup of water after finishing. (The Spokesman-Review)
Kenya's Allan K. Kiprono leads the elite men's race. (The Spokesman-Review)
Photos from start to finish of Bloomsday 2012 on Sunday, May 6, 2012.
It happens a lot: Crummy weather turns into beautiful skies on Bloomsday. Spokane’s annual salute to spring and fitness ran true to script Sunday. Nearly 48,000 people finished the 36th Lilac Bloomsday Run, enjoying temperatures in the mid-40s at the start of the race that rose to nearly 60 by the time most of them crossed the finish line.
MEN Washington Division—1, Evan Sims, Spokane Valley, 37:45. 2, Justin Englund, Pullman, 37:49. 3, Jordan Welling, Burlington, 37:53. 4, Nick Mosey, Spokane, 38:25.
There would be no thrilling finish at this year’s Bloomsday Elite Women’s race. Mamitu Daska made sure of that from the start, pulling away from an ever-thinning pack Sunday to win by almost a minute.