Registration opens for Bloomsday 2020

Jan. 2, 2020 Updated Thu., Jan. 2, 2020 at 9:33 p.m.

By Chad Sokol chadso@spokesman.com (509) 459-5047

If a New Year’s resolution isn’t enough to convince you to lace up your running shoes, perhaps you need a reminder that Bloomsday is four months away.

Registration opened Wednesday for Spokane’s signature 12K running, walking and jogging event. (That’s 7.46 miles.)

Now in its 44th year, the race is scheduled for May 3, and the price is $22 for those who sign up online by March 15. The Bloomsday website is bloomsdayrun.org.

Additionally, those who register by Feb. 10 will be entered in a drawing to win one of five Garmin vivoactive 4 smartwatches. Those who register by March 1 can personalize their bib numbers with their first names.

Every Bloomsday finisher will receive a T-shirt, the color and design of which will remain secret until race day.

Among other souvenirs, participants can buy finisher medals featuring an image of the U.S. Pavilion in Riverfront Park for $12 when registering online. Those medals must be picked up during the Bloomsday trade show on May 1 or May 2.

Runners also can donate to Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Inland Northwest at registration, or purchase a pair of Ronald McDonald House socks for $10. Every dollar donated will be matched by Community Cancer Fund.

The Bloomsday course starts downtown along Riverside Avenue, cuts through Browne’s Addition, goes north along Government Way and Fort George Wright Drive, crosses the Spokane River at the T.J. Meenach Bridge, punishes runners at the notorious Doomsday Hill and winds through the West Central Neighborhood before reaching the finish line on Monroe Street.

Participation in Bloomsday has waned in recent years, following a trend with road races across the country.

About 38,500 people signed up for Bloomsday last year, the first time since 1985 that registrations fell below 40,000.

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