The Angels Of Doomsday Give Us A Call
Joe Ross and Matt Davenport have different goals for Bloomsday than most people.
Last year, they ran up and down Doomsday Hill seven times. This year, they’re hoping for more trips.
The 18-year-olds are two of 10 students at Upper Columbia Academy in Spangle who volunteered to help people through Bloomsday last year.
This year, about 25 are volunteering.
“We were pushing wheelchairs, baby carriages, whatever,” Davenport said.
As they ran, Davenport and Ross looked to help anyone with disabilities and anyone who looked tired.
“We came in last,” said Davenport with a grin. “But it was a lot better than just running it. You got to meet a lot of people.”
The school now is looking for anyone who would like to run Bloomsday but who might need help.
“If anyone’s handicapped, anyone who’s blind, we’ll help,” said Linnea Torkelsen, community service director at the academy. “We’ll take wheelchairs, we’ll take whatever. I don’t know what all the options might be of people who need assistance.”
The 310 students and faculty members at the school perform community service one day a month.
Ross and Davenport went beyond the call of duty, Torkelsen said.
“It feels good to help people,” said Ross, who’s run Bloomsday at least 10 times. “This was probably my best (Bloomsday) experience.”
The academy will be working with Positive Life Radio to coordinate volunteers for Bloomsday.
For more information, call the academy at 245-3614.
Longer trek?
If it seems like Bloomsday is a little longer this year than in years past, it’s only an illusion.
The starting line for the race will be moved back 20 feet because construction at T.J. Meenach Bridge is finished. This means the newly completed bridge will carry a full four lanes of runners for the first time, and provide a straighter - and shorter - shot heading into Doomsday Hill, said police Lt. Al Odenthal, the Bloomsday course coordinator.
“The finish line has to remain where it is,” he said.
Still, the race will stay at precisely 12 kilometers, or 7.46 miles.
The only other construction course change is another lane of traffic open on Riverside because Sterling Savings has finished its project.
Alas, the Spokane Transit Authority construction probably still will take up a lane of traffic on Riverside.
Race deadline looms
The Bloomsday early registration deadline is fast approaching.
Submit your entry forms by April 19 or pay the $20 late registration fee. Early registration costs $8.
Registration forms are available at area Safeway supermarkets.
xxxx Give us a call For some people, Bloomsday is more than a foot race. It’s a goal. It could be the capping event of an exercise program. Or a way to celebrate overcoming a serious illness or injury. If you or someone you know is using Bloomsday as a goal in their life, we’d like to write about it. Please call the newspaper’s Cityline service at 458-8800 in Spokane and 765-8811 in Coeur d’Alene, and enter category 9865. You will need a Touch-Tone telephone. Normal long-distance charges apply. Along with your message, please leave your name and phone number so a reporter can get back to you. We’ll use some of the ideas in upcoming stories about Bloomsday.