Junior Bloomsday Not Just For Kids 8,300 Youngsters Brave Morning Chill As Parents Cheer Them On

For parents, it was a page out of “Where’s Waldo?”

“There he is,” said Mary Boyle of Cashmere, Wash., pointing to her 10-year-old among the hundreds of Junior Bloomies on the field.

“Hey Joe!” she yelled, waving her arms as she stood in the stands. “Joe!”

Like the 8,300 kids who ran on Saturday, Joe Boyle was a faraway figure - a tiny face that only a mom or dad would recognize from 200 feet away.

Along with other 10-year-olds, the Vale Elementary student raced around Joe Albi Stadium in the 12th annual Junior Bloomsday, the largest children’s running event in the world.

As the crush of kids packed the field, parents stood in the stands to cheer them on. They came prepared - blankets to stay warm, cameras to record the moment, even signs with their children’s names to encourage them to the finish line.

“It’s exciting for the kids and parents,” said Mau Nguyen, who snapped photos of his daughter, Minhan, as she headed to the starting line. “We woke up two hours early for this.”

Parents without cameras or binoculars simply yelled their children’s names with the usual encouragements: “Go!,” “Good job!,” “You can do it!”

Seemingly oblivious to the crowd, most of the kids waited anxiously for volunteers to lift the yellow starting tape at the sound of the buzzer.

They ran in groups of 30 to 50 along with kids in their age groups. Nine- through 12-year-olds ran 2 miles, 7- and 8-year-olds went for a mile, and 5- and 6-year-olds jogged for half a mile.

This year’s turnout was about the same as last year’s, event organizers said. Sunny weather certainly helped, but even the early morning cold didn’t stop hundreds of 12-year-olds from showing up in time for their 9 a.m. run.

“It was longer than I thought,” said Robert Moss, 12, the first kid across this year’s finish line. “At the end, I gave it all I had.”

Moss, a Sunrise Elementary sixth-grader, spent his spring break training at Sta-Fit, he said. This was his first - and last - Junior Bloomsday.

Toward the end of the race, most ran at full speed through a zig-zag course. Near the balloon-decorated finish line, they were greeted by pink-haired clowns in dresses and Junior Bloomsday volunteers who pointed them toward their goal.

“It was fun,” said Nicole Wilkerson, a sixth-grader at North Pines Junior High. “But it seemed a little longer this year.”

After crossing the finish line, they gulped down cups of water before dumping them over their heads. They greeted their parents wearing oversized T-shirts - white ones with a colorful Junior Bloomsday ‘97 design.

Younger kids waiting to hit the field sat in the bleachers. They stomped their feet, did the wave and screamed “Junior Bloomsday.”

“It’s exciting for the kids,” said Domingo Lazo of Spokane, who waited for his daughter, Rebecca, to cross the finish line. “It’s one big event that we all participate in.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo