Bloomies run to the trade show

Gary Bruner played shock jockey Friday afternoon.

The Bloomsday volunteer stood at a booth at the race’s annual trade show doling out information about the course. In front of him was a poster showing a side view of the course elevation, including the 3.7 percent incline at Latah Creek and the 6.5 percent incline of Doomsday Hill.

Not all Bloomies have prepared for the ups and downs, Bruner said.

“They look at that and say, ‘My gosh! I have to run up that hill?’ ” he said. “Most of the fun-runs don’t have the elevations we do.”

Thousands of people meandered through the trade show Friday, sampling snacks and purchasing the latest running gadgets and gear. Excitement for Sunday’s 29th running of Bloomsday was brewing.

Friends Bonnie Cameron and Susie Cunningham each bought $7 “blister-proof” socks.

“It’s always fun to come down because you inevitably run into someone you know,” Cameron said.

The women have been exercising together since the 1980s. They used to do Bloomsday with a group who called themselves the Crazy Eights, but only half the women still participate while the other half just meet up with them for a post-race breakfast.

“They still feel part of it, only they don’t get sore,” Cunningham said.

Tom Fuchs, a volunteer handing out bib numbers, said it’s exciting to check in “perennials,” the runners who’ve completed every Bloomsday since 1977. The perennials get a green singlet, their ticket to a spot near the front of the starting line.

Harold Rusch, 81, picked up his green singlet Friday afternoon.

“This time of year it gets in your blood,” he said.

On Sunday, Rusch likely will eat cereal sans milk, his usual pre-Bloomsday breakfast. He’ll load up on water tonight to avoid cramping.

Volunteer Nissa Gibbs spent Friday registering people for the race.

“There are more (late registrants) than the last few years, probably because of the weather,” she said.

Gibbs spends Friday and Saturday in the eye of the Bloomsday storm, but she avoids being downtown on Sunday.

“Too many people,” she said. “Sometimes I flip on the TV.”