Bloomsday Perennials: Floyd McComas has cherished memories of the bonding – and meals – behind the race

Floyd McComas has memorabilia from his 49 years running Bloomsday all over his house, mostly posters and pictures. At age 85, he is no longer setting speed records, but he remembers fondly the days when he could log a good finish time.

“I remember just passing people,” said McComas, one of the annual event’s Perennials who have run every race since it began. “Them days are gone. For about two years there, I could do it right at an hour. I know those fast times are long gone.”

McComas was born and raised in Spokane, graduating from Rogers High School. He served in the Air Force for four years before working as a carpet layer for four decades. McComas had a few small road races under his belt when Bloomsday came around in 1977, so signing up seemed like the thing to do.

“Right at that time, it was the thing to do, to run,” he said.

The thing McComas remembers the most about the first year is how hot it was.

“I got through it, so I guess it was OK,” he said. “People were just falling like flies. I remember going by the Clocktower and there was this guy who was passed out, but his feet were still moving.”

McComas joined the Roadrunners Club and would do the short road races that were common in small towns at the time. He said he enjoyed those races because some of the towns would host a potluck afterwards.

In the early years, his parents would meet him after Bloomsday and they would go out to lunch. As time went on, he would often stop and get a coffee downtown before the race began, then do Bloomsday with a large group of friends and go out to eat afterwards. The friend group shrank over time, however.

“Little by little, they dropped out,” he said.

His wife of 36 years, Jill, did Bloomsday with him several times, and when she didn’t participate, she would go downtown to cheer him on.

“I ran with him much of the time when I was able to,” she said. “I have a walker these days, but it was fun while we could.”

These days, McComas enjoys doing Bloomsday with his fellow Perennials, all of whom are given special shirts to wear on race day. He also enjoys the Perennial luncheons that are held every few years.

His finisher T-shirts are carefully stored away in a special chest.

“The Perennial shirts, they’re special, too,” he said.

Running was only the beginning of McComas’ active lifestyle. He was an avid skier, spending a lot of time on the black diamond runs at Lookout Mountain and Silver Mountain. He also did cross country and telemark skiing and has a photo on his wall of him jumping off a small cliff on a snowy mountainside. He had to quit skiing three years ago when age began to catch up to him.

He has had knee problems in recent years, but has not had a knee replacement yet.

“They get a little tender,” he said.

McComas now walks Bloomsday, and he prepares for it by walking his neighborhood and going to the gym.

“I know I’ve got a job in front of me to prepare for Bloomsday,” he said.

Back when Bloomsday started, McComas never thought he’d still be doing the race 50 years later.

“That was not in my mind,” he said.

His goal is to continue to do Bloomsay for at least five more years.

“I’d like to think I can do it on my own two feet,” he said. “That might be the point where I give it up.”