Bloomsday Perennial: Runner nearly missed recognition for completing each race

For a few years, Bloomsday Perennial Robert Maudlin wasn’t on the official race perennial list because he didn’t complete the first race in 1977 under his own name. A phone call to race founder Don Kardong fixed that, however, and Maudlin is now on the list with the other runners who have spent 49 years running the streets of Spokane.

Maudlin moved to Spokane in 1970 to take a job at the Washington State University College of Pharmacy. After a few years, he began working for the Providence Medical Group, where he worked for the family medical residency program. He created a program where medical residents spent their first year in Spokane and their next two years in rural communities, with the goal of increasing doctors in rural areas.

In 1977, one of his students was signed up to participate in the first Bloomsday run, but hurt himself shortly before race day. He asked Maudlin if he wanted to run in his place and Maudlin dug out his old Converse and headed downtown that first Sunday in May. After that, he registered under his own name, but after a few years he realized that his finish that first year wasn’t official and called to straighten it out.

“I had then become somebody who really loved running,” he said.

He participated in other runs over the years, but over time it became more important to him to participate in Bloomsday each year.

“You know, you’ve got to keep doing this,” he said.

As his son and daughter got older, they began signing up for Bloomsday with him.

Over the years, he cared less about posting a good finish time. Maudlin said he would often pause to help push wheelchairs up Doomsday Hill.

“It was more important to just be of service,” he said.

Maudlin has fond memories about doing Bloomsday with his children and grandchildren. When his grandson was about 7 or 8 years old, Maudlin put the boy on his shoulders and carried him up Doomsday Hill. Someone took a picture that ended up in the Alaska Airlines magazine, which preserved one of his best race memories, Maudlin said.

Maudlin, who will turn 85 a month before Bloomsday, has gotten slower. He walks a lot more than he runs, but he doesn’t mind. He enjoys the camaraderie with the other participants.

“I get to enjoy the time out there more,” he said. “It’s still just a special experience. It’s one thing that, in a way, keeps you identifying with your youth.”

A few years ago, he had his right hip replaced, followed by a right knee replacement three years ago.

“That altered my running,” he said.

Maudlin is doing what he can to stay active. He delivers Meals on Wheels every Monday and took his first international trip this summer with his son. He’s planning another trip next year with his daughter.

After the race went virtual in 2020, Maudlin kept doing it that way every year on routes he carefully mapped out in his car to make sure he got the mileage right. But he plans to make the journey downtown for the 50th race in May and jostle through the crowds.

The whole family plans to come to town for the next Bloomsday in May.

“I’m very happy the 50th is coming up and my family will be doing it with me,” he said.

Maudlin said he hopes his great-grandchild, now around three months old, can be included as well. “That’s how my grandson did his first Bloomsday – in a stroller,” he said.

Finishing the 50th race has been Maudlin’s goal for the last several years, but now he thinks he can make it even further.

“I’m thinking I could keep going,” he said. “If I can find somebody to push me in my wheelchair in my 90s, that would be great.”