Cow bells, bagpipers, a marching band and more set for Sunday’s Boulevard Race

When running a race, it’s always great to feel encouraged.

The Boulevard Race at 10 a.m. Sunday is going to have all the motivation one could need, with bagpipers, cow bells, bubble bazookas, the Ferris High School marching band and more.

“It’s a road race; there’s no doubt about it. But it’s really more of a party on the pavement,” Race Director Jon Neill said.

What’s being advertised as “the most fun you will ever have over four miles” is returning to Spokane’s University District for the third year in a row. The start and finish line is right next to Gonzaga University.

Registration costs $30, and proceeds from the race go towards the Community Cancer Fund, a local nonprofit that helps cancer patients. When participants pick up their race number, they’ll get a $30 Rosauers grocery coupon, meaning the race itself is essentially free.

Neill, who is also executive director for Community Cancer Fund, said he expects around 4,000 runners, joggers and walkers to attend this year’s event. Directing races is nothing new for Neill, as he served as the Bloomsday race director from 2020 to 2022. Before that, he was a trial lawyer for 20 years.

“(The Boulevard Race) is lined with cheer zones and spectators and DJs and all sorts of fun entertainment to distract you from the fact that you’re actually even going 4 miles,” Neill said.

Neill said in the past, the Boulevard Race has raised anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 for the Community Cancer Fund. He hopes to repeat that success this year.

Groovy music and sounds of all sorts are supposed to be a staple of this Sunday’s race. Right from the start, racers will be able to hear the tunes of various local DJs. In total, there will be 14 DJs spread out across the 4-mile run.

Once racers have rounded the first corner and the first round of DJs, they’ll see an assortment of pink plastic flamingo decorations accompanied by a barrage of ballads from bagpipers on Riverpoint Boulevard.

Near the Spokane Convention Center, racers will go through the Bubble Zone, where Banner Bank employees toting bubble bazookas will shoot off 7,000 bubbles per minute. The Bubble Zone is followed shortly after by the Bead Zone, where 8,000 Mardi Gras-style beads will be handed out to runners. The last stretch before the first mile marker is devoted to folks who want to frolic in ankle-high foam as part of the Foam Zone.

After traversing MLK Jr. Way and making it past “DJ Alley,” racers will reach the Raised Glazed Donut Zone. While listening to jams from none other than DJ Donuts, racers will get to choose a donut out of the nearly 700 available.

After that, it’s the scream tunnels, where students from surrounding schools will assemble to make as much noise as humanly possible.

“(The highschoolers) get under there with thunder sticks and cowbells and all sorts of noise makers,” Neill said, “And they just raise a ruckus.”

Just past the Erie Street scream tunnel will be Ben Brueggemeier and approximately 125 of his students performing as part of the Ferris marching band.

Brueggemeier has been the band director at Ferris for the past 29 years and has been involved with the Boulevard Race since the first one in 2023.

“We’re at about the halfway point, so it’s just a chance to kind of infuse a little bit of energy into their run,” Ben Brueggemeier said.

He believes that performing for the community in events like the Boulevard Race is crucial for anyone that wants to call themselves a musician. More often than not, Ben Brueggemeier said the rhythm of the runners’ pace will transform into more of an interpretive dance as they fly past the marching band.

Like Brueggemeier said, the Ferris band is only at mile 2, meaning there’s still 2 miles left once runners reach the bellowing brass instruments, the woodwinds weaving melodies and the percussionists driving the rhythm forward.

Runners have to go around a loop and hit the marching band and the scream tunnels once more before reaching The Frozen Zone. The Frozen Zone is for anyone who wants something tasty to cool down with.

The Second Harvest Dollar Drop is the last turnaround of the race that occurs about 2½ miles in.

Last year, Neill said he asked every racer to keep a dollar in their pocket and then deposit that dollar in a bucket once they hit the Dollar Drop.

“Because of those dollars that were dropped, $3,500 was donated that day to Second Harvest,” Neill said.

A group of Fleet Feet employees and volunteers will be ringing cowbells and vigorously shaking tambourines right past mile 3. An ’80s-themed audio experience called the Winnebago Boom Box, which will feature a Winnebago RV from the 1980s, is one of the last staples of the race before the finish line. The Crimzone Go for the “Gold” is the last stop, where Washington State University’s famous Cougar Gold cheese will be given out as a prize. It’s worth mentioning that a food court and beer garden will also be at the finish line for anyone who wants some grub and a drink.

Neill said the Boulevard Race is separated into four divisions: the elite category, the blaze race category for those who want to run and jog, the cruise division for folks who want to jog or walk, and finally the walking division.

Runners in the elite division, including notable athletes from surrounding colleges like Gonzaga’s Wil Smith and Rosina Machu, will receive a cash prize for both men and women divisions – $2,500 will go to first place, $1,500 to second place and $1,000 for third place, respectively.

Wheelchair racers are also encouraged to sign up, as Neill wants the event to be as inclusive and competitive as possible. Registration for the Boulevard Race is only available online and ends on Saturday.

It really is just non-stop energy and fun and entertainment and music the entire way,” Neill said. “When we built it, our hope was that there is just an endless stream of people who are cheering one another on in this fantastic city of ours.”