Resetting The Pace Some Bloomsday Junkies See Times Skyrocket When They Add Kids, Strollers

Tim Thomas was aggravated.

A competitive Bloomsday runner, he wasn’t anywhere near the finish line last year after an hour.

In fact, it took him almost three to finish the race.

“It took him forever,” said his wife, Lauren Thomas. “Tim was almost crying.”

Like Tim Thomas, many serious runners lose ground for one reason: children.

Instead of running for time, these moms and dads have chosen to share Bloomsday with their kids.

Last year, 681 registered finishers were children ages 3 or under. Most made it without working up a sweat - sitting for 7.49 miles in a stroller or child carrier on their parents’ backs.

It’s the parents who do all the work. And for those used to running the race in less than an hour, the first - and sometimes only - time can be painful.

“It was brutal,” recalled Thomas, who pushed and carried his 6-month-old son, Hayden, for the first time last year.

Thomas, who finished Bloomsday 1995 in 56 minutes, took 2 hours and 58 minutes last year to cross the finish line.

Until last year, Kim Price of Spokane was another runner who sprinted through Bloomsday.

“I lived (Bloomsday),” she said. “I breathed it. I ate it.”

But now, she’d rather run with her kids, she said.

For the first time in her 15-year Bloomsday career, it took her twice as long to run last year’s race. Because she was with her 10-year-old daughter, Erin, it took her an hour and a half to finish.

“It was a whole other view from the back of the pack,” she said.

“I had so much adrenaline before the race … I was ready to hear the gun and run. But there I was, spinning my wheels at the starting line.”

This year, Price, 39, plans to walk Bloomsday with all of her children: Erin, now 11, and her 7-year-old twins, Lexi and Alli.

Thomas, however, will go solo one last time this year. Next year, he and Lauren - who is 8 months’ pregnant - plan to do Bloomsday with both children.

“I want to set an example for Hayden,” said Tim Thomas, 31. “(Bloomsday) is a good family event.”

Despite the long walk, more parents are bringing their children along for Bloomsday. Even world-class athletes such as Don Kardong have foresaken speed at least once in their lives to push a stroller or walk with a child.

In 1984, Kardong and his wife, Bridgid, decided to do Bloomsday with their 6-month-old daughter, Kaitlin.

At the time, he was one of the first to use the “baby jogger,” a three-wheel stroller invented that year by a former Spokane resident.

“It just seemed like a monumental thing to have your first kid in the race,” he said.

The year before, Kardong finished the race in 38 minutes. With Kaitlin, his time ballooned to 1 hour and 53 minutes.

He still recalls reaching the first milepoint in Browne’s Addition. While pushing his daughter, he looked up and saw a helicopter above them, indicating people were getting closer to the finish line.

“I realized that the leaders were at six miles - where I normally would have been,” he said.

Kids and strollers have become a popular sight at Bloomsday, said Curt Kinghorn of Sport Town.

Every year, he gets phone calls from people who live out of town looking to rent baby joggers for their kids. That’s why he’s starting a program next year to coordinate people who want to lease their strollers to Bloomsday visitors.

Most parents with young children take about two to three hours to make it through the finish line, according to past Bloomsday statistics.

Last year, the fastest among those ages 3 and under was a 1-year-old from Kennewick, Wash., who completed the race in 1 hour and 7 minutes. The slowest was a 3-year-old from Spokane. It took his pusher 3 hours and 55 minutes to finish.

It’s a frustrating experience for the former competitors, but parents say it’s worth it.

“My family has to come first,” said Price. “Setting an example to my kids is more important than racing and winning ribbons.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: RULES FOR STROLLERS Strollers must line up at the end of the Red section on Sprague Avenue. Pushers cannot run. There is a 10-minute start delay for this group.