‘He’s with me in spirit’: The stories behind Spokane’s 50th Bloomsday

Every year, Bloomsday has attracted thousands of people from all ages and several countries to run through Spokane.

Some do it for fitness. Some, to hang with friends. Others are continuing family traditions and want to help keep memories alive.

Here are some of the stories of those who completed the course or watched or entertained from the sidelines.

Leaving her home country to try something new

Betty Chepkwony, 32, sat on the road and splashed her face with water. Then she laid back, shielding her eyes from the sun.

She had just placed third in her first Bloomsday.

“It was tough. It’s really warm,” she said. “I’m usually racing when it’s cold.”

Chepkwony is a Kenyan long-distance runner and a two-time winner of the Rome Marathon, securing titles in 2023 and 2025. Chepkwony said this was her first time in the United States and knew she wanted to do something challenging and memorable.

“This race is exciting. It’s up and down. And you know, most of the time I’m racing when it’s flat,” Chepkwony said.

“I wanted to try something new and keep my muscles strong for the next race,” she said.

– Monica Carrillo-Casas

Switzerland? But first, pizza

Phillip Croft, 26, and Valera Jacob Allen, 25, high-fived each other when they learned they’re both heading to Switzerland in a week. Both are already prepping for their next race.

“Shoutout Switzerland,” Croft said.

Allen and Croft raced in the wheelchair division , which Allen won. Croft finished third.

Croft, who’s from Spokane, said he’s been competing in the race since he was in eighth grade and has participated in seven races in total.

Allen, who was born in Ukraine, said his first year participating was 2022. This was his first time coming out on top.

“Nothing’s really too hard if you really put your mind and put your heart into it,” Allen said. “I don’t think there’s such thing as a hard thing.”

Croft said they planned to celebrate postrace with some David’s Pizza.

“You ready for some pizza?” Croft asked Allen.

“I’m ready for anything,” Allen said.

- Monica Carrillo-Casas

A barefoot battle

After running barefoot for 7.5 miles, Gabriel Williams said he’s not expecting too many blisters to form on the bottom of his feet.

When he hits a rock or a pebble, he said it feels like a bee sting momentarily. Then it’s back to normal.

“Go past the limit,” Williams said. “That point where you feel like giving up, just know you can go even further.”

Not only was Williams running Bloomsday without any shoes, but the 43-year-old entertainment photographer wore a running mask to strengthen respiratory muscles and improve his lung capacity. It also made him look a bit like a warlord from the film series Mad Max.

The longest Williams has run without shoes is 10 miles, he said. He’s done it so much it’s now “second nature.”

With only 2 miles left until the finish line, Williams was happy to report he stepped on only two rocks and that no broken bottles, needles or other sharp objects had punctured his foot.

“The desert will teach us one thing about water that the ocean never will,” Williams said, of his motivation. “When you have everything, you appreciate nothing. But when you have nothing, you understand everything.”

– Mathew Callaghan

Momma mimosas

Under a WSU-branded tent on his front lawn, Kevin Herda, along with three neighboring families, have an annual tradition called “Mimosas for Mommas.”

“We live on the mile end, and it’s an annual tradition, to have friends over and a party in the front yard and cheer on the runners,” Herda said.

As the name suggests, Herda and others sit route-side and hand out mimosas, exclusively for mothers. It’s a tradition that’s been running 15 years.

“I bought a place on the Bloomsday route, and my friend, a good friend, said, ‘We need to have a party.’ So that’s how it started,” Herda said. “We just send out a text message to everyone and tell them what we’re gonna have for food and what to bring. Ice and champagne are always encouraged.”

Herda hoped to bring some much-needed refreshment to those running in the race.

“The runners know that we’re cheering them on, and we are happy to see everyone out on a beautiful Sunday in Spokane,” Herda said.

In addition to lots of mimosas, the group brings plenty of signs to cheer on the runners.

“ ‘Free high -fives’ is always popular, but the signs have changed. Like during COVID, we had to do free high -elbows,” Herda said.

Every year, Herda said, the children at the party make new signs.

The 50th running of Bloomsday did not change the playbook.

“Nothing different,” Herda said, “other than the crowd is larger.”

– Troy Slack

‘I run for my sanity’

Audra McPartland, 40, made her way down the road to get her shirt. She held it out to look at the design.

“It’s so pretty,” she said.

McPartland, who lives in Warden, said this is her ninth Bloomsday race, finishing in 34th place for the women’s division. Her first Bloomsday was in 2011.

“I’m a mom of four kids; I run for my sanity,” she said.

Her husband and kids joined her for the day. While her son runs cross country, she said he hasn’t gotten the “bug to run.”

“I hope some year he will,” she said.

– Monica Carrillo-Casas

Sibling – now cousin – rivalries

Sisters Arleen Rash and Holly Cartmell have more than 20 Bloomsday races under their belts, running each together.

The two transplants have called the Inland Northwest home for years, once Rash stayed after attending Washington State University and Cartmell stayed after attending Gonzaga University.

“Our husbands hate crowds, so we buddy up,” Rash said.

On Sunday, Rash and Cartmell brought some reinforcements for their family outing each May. Rash’s son Jackson Rash, 12, joined to participate in his first, while Cartmell’s daughter Josie Cartmell, 11, was ready to take on her fourth.

Josie was leaning on that prior experience ahead of the race as the group discussed their expected performances before the starting gun fired. She said she enjoys participating, mostly for the bragging rights.

“I like to run it and then to tell my friends, ‘Yeah, I just ran over 7 miles,’ ” Josie said.

- Nick Gibson

No pickle, please – just the hot dog

Tim Johnson was supposed to be a pickle this year. Or dressed as one, anyway. But when his wife’s brother dropped out at the last second, Johnson resorted to the next best thing – a hot dog.

“It was always either a pickle or a hot dog,” he said. “And I’ve always thought a hot dog is funnier.”

Without another fermented cucumber to run alongside, the 45-year-old UPS driver said he ran Bloomsday to show his in-laws how they do it in Portland, where he lives.

The informal mantra for the City of Roses is to “Keep Portland weird” and running 7.46 miles in a hot dog costume isn’t ordinary. Johnson claimed the full-body hot dog suit is a bit stuffy, given that he bought the cheapest one he could find on Amazon for $30.

Even though his sweat might’ve mixed with the mustard and ketchup, his goal for the day was to run the entire course without taking a single walking break. This was his third Bloomsday, but Johnson admits the vibe has stayed about the same across all of them.

“It’s generally pretty fun,” he said. “It’s crowded and everyone’s pretty positive.”

– Mathew Callaghan

Keeping memories alive

Jackie Van Allen, Spokane resident, stood near the end of the finish line as she waited for her niece to join her.

Attached to her shirt was a picture of her son, Steven Davenport, who had muscular dystrophy and died in 2014.

“He would always say to me before I go running, ‘Have fun,’ and that’s what I do,” Van Allen said.

“I just think he’s with me in spirit,” she said.

A man next to her pulled out his necklace from under his shirt.

“I have my dad here with me too,” he said.

Van Allen said her first Bloomsday was in 1985. She said she was inspired by her ex-husband’s office, which participated in the event.

Overall, she’s participated in the event 38 times.

“It’s just such a great community experience. I’m just so proud that so many people come out,” she said.

– Monica Carrillo-Casas

A dad, a stroller and Doomsday Hill

At the base of Doomsday Hill, Frank McCorkle had his son, Junior, switch stroller seats with his other boy, Jamie. Like a pit stop in an F1 race, the younger brother exchanged seats with his older brother in a flash.

“Ahh, way better,” the 6-year-old Jamie said, as he settled into his seat.

Meanwhile, their father’s mental game plan for the uphill battle known as Doomsday Hill was simply to “just keep chugging along.” The truck driver born and raised in Spokane said he remembers doing the 1996 Bloomsday with his mother. Now as a father, he’s thrilled to share the beauty of Bloomsday with his sons for the first time.

The trio didn’t have a specific time in mind for when they wanted to cross the finish line, but McCorkle said they just wanted to keep it moving the entire race.

“That’s what I told them,” McCorkle said. “Walk on the hills when we’ve got to and dump water on our heads when it gets hot.”

– Mathew Callaghan

A hockey problem

Consisting of women who all play hockey – and music – the band “Too Many Men” has become a dependable Bloomsday attraction.

“We’ve been here for 14 years, said Melissa Verwest, the lead singer. “We’ll be here for 14 more.”

The band was stationed this year on the west side of Browne’s Addition.

“In hockey, you get a penalty for having six people on the ice. And even when you play women’s hockey, it’s too many men. So we have six people in our band, and so we’re one too many for a hockey team,” Verwest explained. “We’re a band with a hockey problem.”

The band looks forward to the slower participants.

“By the time we get to walkers and strollers, people aren’t running by,” Verwest said. “They’re stopping. They’re singing with us. They’re dancing with us.”

The band picks music curated for the event.

“We do songs like ‘Footloose’ and ‘Running on Empty,’ so things that have to do with racing and running,” Verwest said. “We keep everybody energized. So it’s really, it’s really great. It’s fun to be at the front end of the race too.”

Verwest has many friends and family running in the race and does something unique if they come by.

“I give them a shoutout in the middle of a song. Anybody we recognize, we give them a shout.”

– Troy Slack

Raggedy Ann

races again

A frizzy, bright red mass of hair bobbed up and down Browne’s Addition to the adulation of excited kids and nostalgic parents.

“Go, Raggedy Ann, go!” one man with a beer called out from the comfort of his lawn chair.

It seemed like everywhere Joyce Wilkens went dressed as Raggedy Ann, there were fans to be found. Wilkens has worn the white pinafore apron over a blue floral dress and bright red curly wig every Bloomsday for the past 25 years – except for last year when she decided to switch it up and dress as a watermelon from the kid’s web channel Cocomelon.

“I had done a play at our church,” the 70-year-old Williams said. “And it involved several toys. I made four costumes of Raggedy Anne and a couple others. So I had the costume and I thought ‘Well, I’ll just run like that because then I can have fun and say hi to all the kids.’ It’s just been the blessing of my life.”

– Mathew Callaghan

A doozy of a dino duo

If you see two T. rexes romping through the streets in Spokane, you know it must be Bloomsday.

Connor Stark, 29, and Alex Schmidt, 26, both do clinical research in the analytics and psychopharmacology lab at Washington State University. While they don’t research velociraptors or pterodactyls, the pair wanted to dress as dinos to try something new.

Last year, Schmidt dressed as Dr. Seuss’s the Lorax. The year before that, she wore a shark onesie. But for the 50th anniversary of Bloomsday, she decided to go all out. Stark, who’s new to the whole costume idea, went along with the bit to make his best friend happy.

If you’re looking to dress as a dino next year, the pair said the costumes don’t get too stuffy, as they’re inflatable, and can be found on Amazon for around $35. But running in the dino suits is probably not going to happen.

“Just commit to the bit,” Schmidt said.

–Mathew Callaghan

‘To honor him’

In 2018, just as Brook Kamp reached the 7-mile marker, he collapsed and died of a heart attack in what would’ve been his 36th Bloomsday. He was 72.

Every year since then, Kamp’s daughter, Mindy Rowe, has sat on the corner of Broadway Avenue and Adams Street after completing Bloomsday and watched everyone else go by. She’s even gotten to connect with some of the folks who surrounded and comforted her father in his final moments.

“People formed a circle around him with their backs to him so he had privacy,” Rowe said. “There was another lady I met, a year later, that saw the memorial stuff and had been looking for us. … She had told me that she held my dad’s hand as soon as he went down. She was holding his hand the whole time they were working on him so he wasn’t alone. That was a complete stranger. Now we’re friends.”

Rowe said doctors and nurses worked to save her father’s life for 45 minutes, but to no avail. Rowe said her father died doing something “he absolutely loved.”

Rowe called Bloomsday a bittersweet day. This year was her 46th Bloomsday, and she carried her father’s ashes with her across the finish line. Rowe said she plans to keep running Bloomsday for the rest of her life or as long as she’s physically able. She does it now not only for her own health and happiness, but for her father’s memory.

“We choose to stay here every year just to honor him, because he loved Bloomsday so much, and it was just something that we always did as a family,” Rowe said. “He was an awesome, amazing man. He was a great dad and a hard worker. He was a contractor, so he worked on a lot of kitchens and bathrooms and stuff for people over the years. And anybody that knows him was blessed to know him. Just a kindhearted, good soul.”

– Mathew Callaghan

‘The waves of crazies’

Sean Burgett knew his choice was unconventional.

“There’s a lot to be doing on a Sunday morning. But there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than coming down and setting up a generator, PA system and a drum set to let my kids come and play for 40,000 to 50,000 people,” said Burgett, the director of Rock Club, a music school in Spokane Valley.

The band, named Spider Monkey, was set up outside a van with a drum set, microphones, amps and speakers. Burgett has run Bloomsday, walked it with a stroller and now plays for it.

“The band playing this morning has my son and my nephew in it,” Burgett said. “We’re the family band here playing with Rock Club today.”

Many of the runners on the course are his students. Burgett teaches drum lessons through Rock Club, and in the days before the race, he asks each of them if they are running. If they are, he tells them to look for him.

Burgett loves his spot near the start of the course.

“We’re always excited to see everybody’s enthusiasm in the first part of the race. Bands that play near the end of the race don’t always get the smiles like we do. So we’re very lucky in that way.”

Playing on Bloomsday has been a tradition for Burgett, as his band has been near the start of the course for nearly 10 years. Their audience is not the elite runners.

“We’re here for the fun, crazy people in costumes near the end of the race, the waves of crazies as they come through. We love the Bloomies.”

– Troy Slack

For next year: a mobile DJ?

Parked roadside with a hybrid live rig of synths, turntables, speakers and a waiting saxophone, David Noland was giving passing Bloomies a one-man concert. Runners cheered as they passed, with many putting their hands up, feeling the music, all without breaking their stride.

“To me, I’m not only inspired to keep them running, but since we’re kind of near the start of the course, my goal is to get their motivation up, get their mood up, and hopefully that will help them run,” Noland said. “I got a lot of house stuff that has that repetitive kind of four-on-the-floor kind of groove going. It’s really good for running.”

Noland has been DJing around three years, and has been playing saxophone for 15. Noland fully committed to the musical world because of a broken leg.

“I just had nothing to do, because I couldn’t move,” Noland said. “So I thought, OK, I’ll take the music thing a little more seriously.’”

With a saxophone around his neck and a keyboard propped up in front of him, Noland switched between playing the two.

“I try to blend a little bit of live stuff. A lot of DJs don’t really play instruments live. So, you know, just kind of blending my background of not only DJing, but also my experience with keys and saxophone,” Noland said.

Noland had friends running Sunday, but he has never run Bloomsday himself.

“Hopefully next year I’ll actually run the race. I don’t know if it’s possible to run and DJ. But hey, maybe I’ll figure something out that’s mobile. Maybe I’ll get a little harness.”

– Troy Slack