Bloomsday Perennial: ‘This is my deal; this is my passion,’ Steve Rusch says of annual road race

Perennial Steve Rusch has such a love for Bloomsday, a race he’s done all 49 times, that he made it clear to his family decades ago that he wouldn’t attend any special events on the first Sunday in May.

“Most of my friends think I’m crazy,” he said. “This is my deal; this is my passion.”

Rusch’s family has lived in the area for more than 100 years. He can trace his love of running to his father taking him to see Gerry Lindgren, a future world-class runner who was generating buzz even as a student at Rogers High School, where he broke multiple records.

“That’s kind of what got me into that,” he said.

Rusch ran track and cross country while attending Ferris High School, following in the footsteps of his father, who ran track at Rogers High School. The family was so enamored with running that they took a monthlong trip in a 1969 Ford Econoline van to the Montreal Olympics in the summer of 1976, the same Olympics in which Bloomsday founder Don Kardong was competing.

“I knew of Don Kardong and knew he had qualified for the Olympics,” he said.

When Kardong announced plans for the first Bloomsday run in 1977, Rusch was there.

“As a runner, I said ‘I’m going, I’m in,’ ” he said.

The first race was a bit of a blur. Rusch can’t remember his finishing time, but recalls placing 110th, not far behind the first woman finisher. Being that close to elite runners is not a feat Rusch was able to repeat.

“Now, I wouldn’t ever be close,” he said.

In the beginning, Rusch stuck with Bloomsday because of the challenge.

“For me, it was a challenge to break 50 (minutes), and I did a couple of times,” he said.

After the first couple of years, the family decided it would be nice to have a place to gather after the race. They would drive their van downtown and park it near the race course at 4 a.m. When the race was over, friends and family would flock to it.

“My mom would always have donuts and cookies and Gatorade and root beer,” he said.

As the years and decades went by, Rusch became less focused on his time.

“There were a lot of years when I really didn’t have a chance to train,” he said. “I think I appreciated it more when I slowed down. I really enjoy most of the bands. Some of them, not so much.”

These days, Rusch spends a lot of time on his feet at work and counts that as training.

“I jog here and there, but mostly it’s just that,” he said.

Rusch said he’s been lucky enough to avoid major injuries, but once had to deal with a torn calf muscle.

“I had to take it easy a couple years there,” he said.

Rusch worked for HollisterStier in the 1990s when it sponsored the wheelchair racers in Bloomsday. He said he enjoyed volunteering with the wheelchair division, which gave him a chance to meet the racers.

“It was amazing to be able to talk to those athletes,” he said.

It became a tradition that Rusch’s friends and family who weren’t running would gather at Walnut and Broadway Avenue to cheer him on. That tradition is still holding strong.

“The fan club has been there for 45 years,” he said.

The family stopped bringing the van downtown just a few years ago, but they still all put on their finisher shirts and go out for a steak dinner the day of Bloomsday.

Rusch’s father, 102-year-old Harold Rusch, was a Bloomsday perennial himself before he had to hang up his running shoes 20 years ago.

“My biggest fear for 30 years was that he was going to come up and beat me,” Steve Rusch said.

Bloomsday kicked off Rusch’s love of running so much that he would go on to run multiple marathons and half-marathons.

“I figure I’ve got well over 100,000 miles on the road,” he said.

But despite his participation in other races, Bloomsday holds a special place in his heart.

“There’s none that have the organization like what Bloomsday has,” he said. “The volunteers are huge. Without them, this wouldn’t happen.”

Though he’s no longer aiming to do Bloomsday in less than 50 minutes, Rusch still has a goal, one that centers on his friendly competition with fellow Perennial Jim Grier. He said the two like to “give each other grief” when they see each other once a year. “I’m going to beat Grier,” he said of the 50th race.

Now age 68, Rusch said he hopes to be able to do Bloomsday for at least another 10 years.

“I would like to continue doing it until I can’t.”