Bloomsday Welcomes Back Winners Two-Time Champs Head Field; 1999 Men’S Victor Missing

Last year’s Bloomsday winner, Joshua Chelanga, decided to pass on the 24th annual run through the streets of Spokane.

But his Kenyan countrymen, Josphat Machuka and Lazarus Nyakeraka - who have two Bloomsday wins apiece - will be back for Sunday morning’s 7.4-mile race.

“I don’t know if there’s a theme for this year’s race, but if there was, it would be double winners and how are they going to do,” said Bloomsday founder and elite athlete coordinator Don Kardong.

Machuka and Nyakeraka are the only two men who have defended their titles in back-to-back years. Machuka became the first to do so in 1995, the year he set the course record in 33 minutes, 52 seconds. Nyakeraka followed with wins in 1996 and 1997. He was runner-up last year.

However, Machuka and Nyakeraka have never raced against each other at Bloomsday.

“I’m really excited about the match-up,” Kardong said at Tuesday’s press conference. “By all indications I have, they are both running really well.”

Women’s runner Jane Omoro and masters runner Kim Jones also fit well in the two-fer theme. Omoro, a 28-year-old from Kenya, won in 1998 and 1999. Jones, a former Spokane resident now living in Boulder, Colo., won the last two masters division races. The 42-year-old set the women’s masters mark (42:17) with her 1998 win. Three years ago, she was the open division champion.

“There are three to four women who could beat Jane,” Kardong said.

Omoro’s biggest challenges are expected to come from last year’s runner-up, Teresa Wanjiku of Kenya, who turns 26 Sunday, and 1999 third-place finisher Libbie Hickman, 35, of Fort Collins, Colo.

Other top women expected to challenge are Omoro’s training partner and compatriot, Jane Ngotho, along with Japan’s Yuko Arimori.

While Arimori, who rarely competes in U.S. road races, will be a Bloomsday first-timer, other divisions are loaded with familiar runners. Jon Sinclair of Fort Collins and wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll are both back.

Amazingly, Driscoll is shooting for her 12th straight Bloomsday title. The 33-year-old from Champaign, Ill., won her eighth Boston Marathon wheelchair title April 17.

Tom Cameron, wheelchair coordinator, predicted 19-year-old Cheri Blauwet of Tucson, Ariz., should be Driscoll’s top challenger.

Not to be outdone by Driscoll’s accomplishment is Clayton Gerein, 35, of Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan. The T-2 Quad Division racer is going for his seventh win.

Sinclair, 42, the 1998 master’s champion, was unable to run last year because of an injury. He won the open division in 1983 and 1986.