There are 70 people who have run every Bloomsday. In the months leading up to the 50th running of the race, The Spokesman-Review will publish stories about these athletes, known as Perennials.
Ted Kirpes moved away from Spokane after completing the first two Bloomsday races, but he has made it a point to journey back on the first Sunday in May ever since. He even cut his honeymoon short to make sure he didn’t miss the race.
Before he retired in 2022, Rick Cadwallader used to deliver mail for the U.S. Postal Service along a portion of the Bloomsday route. He frequently talked to his customers about his status as a Bloomsday Perennial, someone who has completed every race.
Sally Rennebohm-Lutz has loved running since elementary school, but she preferred shorter distances. That didn’t stop her from signing up for Bloomsday when she was 17 years old, however.
Bernie Barnes was a senior at Central Valley High School during the first Bloomsday in 1977 and was on the school’s track team. He signed up for the race because he saw it as training for track.
Jim Grier was a sophomore at North Central High School when the first Bloomsday race happened in 1977. Running, running both cross country and track. It was only natural that he signed up.
Bloomsday Perennial Von Klohe, 78, has goals. His mother ran several Bloomsdays decades ago, and the year she turned 80, she placed fifth in her age group. When she was 81, she finished even faster.
There were some years when Larry Gorton signed up for Bloomsday as “Larry” and other years that he signed up with his formal name, “Lawrence.” As the number of Bloomsdays climbed, Gorton had to convince organizers that Larry Gorton and Lawrence Gorton were the same person so he could claim his Perennial status as someone who has completed every race.
