Bloomsday Perennial: For John Day, ‘It’s just the camaraderie’ that keeps him coming back

John Day was 13 years old when he signed up for the first Bloomsday in 1977 and had to convince his mother he could run the roughly 8-mile race, even though he already was participating in track and cross country. She said she would allow it if he wasn’t alone, so Day recruited a nonrunning friend to do it with him.

“I’d never run that far before,” Day said. “I was nervous. My mom was nervous.”

Day recalls two things about the first race: He and his friend wore tube socks on their hands as gloves and it was a warm day with little water available along the course. He and his friend came upon some spectators at the top of Pettit Drive who had a cooler full of ice and soda and asked for some ice.

“We filled the tube socks full of ice and just kind of sucked on it,” he said.

Day managed to get through the first run in 61 minutes. Near the finish line, he spotted a tall man running and vowed to beat him.

“It seemed like he was 8 feet tall at the time,” he said. “I was just a teeny thing.”

Day passed him, then the man passed Day again. They went back and forth several times, but Day was able to barely beat him at the end.

Day said he was competitive and he found running fun.

“I started running in grade school,” he said. “I think it just kind of went from there.”

He continued doing Bloomsday throughout his time at Shadle Park High School.

“A lot of people I ran with at school were doing it,” he said. “We motivated each other.”

Even his mother signed up for Bloomsday the second year. She would do the race off and on for many years. These days, she’s near the finish line with a sign, cheering on her son.

Other family members joined in as well.

“There’d be, like, 15 family members all doing the race, and then we’d go out to breakfast,” he said. “It was kind of like I was the spark that got everyone doing it.”

In the 10th year Day vowed to keep his streak going, hoping to make it to 20 years.

“Who would have thought it would turn into something this big?” he said. “It is a special thing. It’s just the camaraderie.”

He also did other fun runs in the region and some marathons and half -marathons. He cut back on his running once he married and started a family. He and his wife had four children, none of whom took up running.

His fastest Bloomsday finish time was 43 minutes, 50 seconds. For years, he could usually finish in under 54 minutes. This year, his goal is a much more modest hour and a half.

“As a Perennial, our goal is just to finish,” he said. “I don’t want to go over the finish line feeling like I need to go to the hospital.”

He’s had to contend with many injuries over the years. When he was in his late 20s, Day stepped off the curb wrong.

“I broke my foot and got off my crutches two weeks before Bloomsday,” he said. “I still ran it in under an hour.”

Several years ago, Day took up cycling since he wasn’t running much anymore and joined a cycling team. About six years ago, he crashed his bicycle at 25 mph, earning himself bruised ribs and a concussion. It was three weeks before Bloomsday, but he still managed to get through the race.

He’s also broken his left leg slipping on ice and his left ankle while ice skating, but he’s always managed to be ready for Bloomsday. Day said he would have done Bloomsday on crutches if he had to.

A few years early on he ran Bloomsday with a hangover after partying with friends the night before. One night of revelry nearly cost him his Perennial status.

“I literally woke up and the race was supposed to start in 15 minutes,” he said. “I got to the start line just as the last walkers and strollers were going over it.”

Another year his wife was due to give birth in the beginning of May. Day told her she would be on her own if she went into labor on race day. His son, Renton, was born April 18.

“He was nice enough to come early,” Day said.

Day has set a new goal for himself: He wants the “Last Man Standing” trophy that has been created for the last Perennial left doing the race.

“I’m happy and thrilled that there are still so many doing it,” he said of his fellow Perennials. “It’s like our own little special family.”

Day is 63 and said he hopes to keep doing Bloomsday for another 15 or 20 years.

“I can’t imagine doing this another 25 years,” he said.

Day did Bloomsday with his son Renton last year and expects to do it with him again this year. His mother will once again be near the finish line, cheering him on.

“It’s been fun,” he said. “Every year, I still get nervous.”