Bloomsday Spending Goes The Distance Study Of Last Year’s Event Shows An Average Runner Spent $125

Bloomsday doesn’t just attract more than 61,000 runners.

The annual event - the largest timed race in the world - is also worth more than $8 million to Spokane, according to a 1996 economic impact study.

“We were sort of stunned that it was that high,” Bloomsday founder Don Kardong said at a kickoff ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

Since the race was never intended to be a money-making event, its impact on Spokane’s economy wasn’t examined until 1985, Kardong said. At that time, the throngs participating in Bloomsday spent an estimated $1.2 million.

The latest study, conducted at the end of last year’s race by Gonzaga University business students, show that the average runner spent about $125.

A large portion of that total was spent on lodging and “other retail,” such as clothes and athletic gear, the study showed. About 12 percent of the $8.2 million total went to food.

“Most of it undoubtedly was pasta,” Kardong said.

Nearly 40 percent of last year’s 61,300 runners came from out of town, the study revealed. About 87 percent arrived by car, but the remaining 13 percent spent an average of $69.68 each to travel by plane, bus or train.

Visitors stayed in Spokane for approximately two days, the study showed. While many stayed with family or friends, those who stayed in a hotel or motel spent an average of $76.26 each.

“People from out of town contribute quite a bit to our economy,” Kardong said.

Information for the study came from a survey of 450 finishers last year. After crossing the finish line and getting their T-shirts, they answered questions that dealt with topics from transportation and entertainment to household income and education level.

At Tuesday’s ceremony, where results from the study were released, officials also unveiled the annual Bloomsday poster.

The painting, by Spokane artist Ken Spiering, depicts a Peaceful Valley scene - a man in overalls and a boy surrounded by woodcarvings of runners.

“It’s very Northwest,” said Spiering, whose previous Bloomsday posters have won top awards from Runner’s World magazine. “The pieces of timber are remnants of Ice Storm.”

For the second time in history, Bloomsday had more finishers last year than San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers race, officials announced Tuesday.

Bloomsday had 56,156 finishers, beating Bay to Breakers by more than 2,000, according to the Road Running Information Center.

As Bloomsday officials rattled off statistics during Tuesday’s news conference at a U.S. Bank office, volunteers started counting the first hundred of the more than 60,000 expected entries.

From now until April 12 - Bloomsday’s early entry deadline - eight to 12 volunteers will process entries at the bank. They run into occasional problems - unsigned checks, people who send in cash, incomplete entry forms.

Volunteers spend at least two hours a day going through applications. About half of the entry forms arrive just days before the deadline.

The 21st annual Lilac Bloomsday Run takes place Sunday, May 4. April 12 is the early-entry deadline for the 7.46-mile race. The entry fee, which includes a T-shirt for race finishers, is $8. The fee after April 12 is $25. Entry forms are available throughout the Inland Northwest.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo Graphic: Bloomsday and Spokane’s economy