Gonzaga breaks EWU’s 26-year Bloomsday Corporate Cup streak with victory last month

Eastern Washington University ran away with the Bloomsday Corporate Cup title for 26 straight years until a trio of Gonzaga University employees broke the streak last month.

Gonzaga’s Jackie Van Allen, Richard Keroack and Chris Fink of the “Gonzaga Gallopers” edged “EWU Red” by one point in the 7.46-mile Spokane race May 4.

“I’m really proud to represent Gonzaga in this way,” said Keroack, who ran track and cross country at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. “It’s really cool that Eastern had the streak for as long as they did, but it feels really good to take it from them, to be honest with you.”

The 26-year streak dates back to 1997. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the race to cancel in 2020, and it was held virtually in 2021, so there were no official results. Eastern also won in 1983 through 1985, and in 1993 and 1994.

Grant Smith, an 87-year-old retired EWU English and philosophy professor, has been at the heart of Eastern’s success since the early 1980s.

Smith ran on an EWU Corporate Cup team from 1983 to 2019 before he retired from teaching in January 2020 after 52 years at the university. Smith has managed the school’s Bloomsday teams since 1983 and continues to do so despite his retirement. He also continues as a Bloomsday participant, having run every race except for the race’s first year.

Smith said he and four other EWU employees ran Bloomsday in 1982 and were surprised after the race when they watched a team from Washington Water Power, now called Avista Corp., receive the Corporate Cup title.

Smith and his friends were unaware of the Corporate Cup division, which pits companies against each other, and signed himself and other EWU associates for the division the following year. And, EWU’s Bloomsday dynasty was born.

Besides Washington Water Power in 1982, Sunset Sports in 1986 and Gonzaga this year, EWU, Washington State University or the city of Spokane (1988-90) has won the Corporate Cup championship every year, according to the Bloomsday website.

“But the real interesting competition was between Eastern and WSU until 1997,” Smith said. “We simply became, well, almost too dominant at that time.”

In 1997, EWU set the record for the lowest combined total time of 2 hours, 3 minutes among its top three runners, according to the race’s website.

Smith encourages as many EWU employees as possible to participate in Bloomsday, as the university fields multiple Corporate Cup teams each year. He said the university had six teams this year and is hoping for more next year.

Smith registers the teams and designates one or two teams with the fastest runners. Those teams change every year as runners come and go, he said.

Smith said the university’s success on the Bloomsday course inspired other members of the Eastern community over the years to join a team and emulate that championship spirit and pride.

“Our initial success stimulated interest,” he said.

Smith said the competition with Gonzaga and other teams is “all in good fun.”

“I’m glad to have the sense of camaraderie and rivalry that Gonzaga offered this year that used to be with WSU,” Smith said.

Van Allen, director of Gonzaga’s Sponsored Research and Programs, said she was still “giddy” weeks after the Corporate Cup win.

“I could barely sleep because I was so excited,” said Van Allen, who ran the course in just over an hour.

She said her team didn’t set out to win, saying everyone has been vying for second place because of EWU’s decades of dominance.

“We had no real high aspirations that this could be a possibility,” Van Allen said.

Van Allen, 61, said she ran on at least 14 Corporate Cup teams while working at The Spokesman-Review and now has run on 15 Gonzaga teams. Her best finish as a team was second place before reaching the summit this year.

“(EWU’s) just great competitors, and to be in the running with them and then to win, I was speechless,” Van Allen said.

She said Smith hand delivered the traveling Corporate Cup champion’s trophy, which has the names of the previous champions engraved on it, to the Gonzaga team at a Bloomsday banquet last month.

“Because they’ve had it so long, no one’s really seen it very often,” Van Allen said of the traveling trophy.

She said she and her Gonzaga teammates also received another trophy and first-place medals.

Van Allen said there’s added pressure to protect the title next year.

“I’m sure (Smith’s) already trying to figure out what he’s going to do next year, but I think it’ll be a good, friendly competition, because I’m sure they’ll be vying to get their spot back, and we would be vying to keep ours,” Van Allen said.

Keroack, budget and personnel officer for Gonzaga’s School of Engineering & Applied Science and Foley Library, said he hasn’t thought about protecting the title, but said he probably will be more intentional about his training next year to try to win again.

This was his second straight year running on a Gonzaga Corporate Cup team. Like Van Allen, Keroack wasn’t expecting a certain team result. He signed up to run as a motivation to lose weight.

Keroack, 35, said he wanted to break 50 minutes, which he did with a time of just over 46 minutes.

“I just wanted to do the best I could,” he said.

Christopher Kirby, who ran for the EWU squad and serves as director of the school’s Philosophy Program, said he’s always been impressed with the civic pride that surrounds Bloomsday.

“I’m happy I get a chance to be a part of that!” Kirby wrote in an email. “The Gonzaga team ran a great race and should be congratulated on a hard-fought victory. We’ve had some really close finishes the last few years and I think the friendly competition is great for everyone!”