A Time To Shop Before Bloomsday Run

Bloomsday Sunday is for racing. Trade show Friday is for eating, shopping and massages. Runners were lined up to spin for salad dressing, pita chips and rice. They were flaying away at Nordstrom Rack goods like lost mall crawlers. The smaller ones were tossing basketballs at an inflatable rim. And there were stacks and stacks of shoes. Joel Warwick of Sport Town said the 400 boxes of Asics and New Balance footwear will shrink by as much as 80 during the trade show’s two days. Most are too rigid to be worn Sunday, he said, but a soft shoe like the Nimbus will allow runners to float around the Bloomsday course without discomfort. “A lot of people can get away with it,” Warwick said/ Bert Caldwell , SR. More here .

• Photo: Dan Pelle/SR: Michelle Baldwin, 35, of Spokane, packs her daughters, 3-month-old Katie and 4-year-old Mia, through the lines to get her family’s race numbers Friday at the Spokane Convention Center. Volunteer Gordon Manser, left, sorts through numbers to find Baldwin’s tag.

Question: Are you running Bloomsday this year? And/or: How many times have your run it before? And/or: Why do you run Bloomsday?