Bloomsday 50th Anniversary Run in Spokane

Spokane’s Bloomsday hits its 50th running on Sunday, May 3, with the city’s signature 12-kilometer road race returning to downtown. (bloomsdayrun.org) (krem.com) The in-person course starts on West Riverside Avenue between Post and Lincoln and finishes at the Monroe Street Bridge after 7.46 miles. Runners pass Browne’s Addition and Spokane Falls Community College before climbing Doomsday Hill. (bloomsdayrun.org) (krem.com) Start times begin at 8:30 a.m. for elite wheelchair athletes, 8:45 a.m. for elite women and 9 a.m. for elite men, Corporate Cup and Brown groups. Later color groups roll out through 10:30 a.m., and organizers tell participants to arrive 30 minutes early. (bloomsdayrun.org) (krem.com) Bloomsday began in 1977 and has grown into one of the country’s best-known road races, mixing elite fields with walkers, first-timers and longtime streakers. The Lilac Bloomsday Association said it is aiming for 50,000 participants for the 50th running. (bloomsdayrun.org) (outthereoutdoors.com) Registration remains open online through 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, and in-person registration at the Spokane Convention Center ends at 4 p.m. that day. The fee is $38 through May 1 and rises to $50 starting May 1, with no race-day registration for the in-person event. (bloomsdayrun.org 1) (bloomsdayrun.org 2) (krem.com) Packet pickup runs Friday, May 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Spokane Convention Center’s Exhibition Hall. Sunday pickup from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. is limited to out-of-town participants. (bloomsdayrun.org) The 50th anniversary has spread beyond race morning. The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture is hosting a Bloomsday exhibit through May 3, and Terrain’s “50 Years of Movement” poster show runs through April 24. (outthereoutdoors.com) Transit and traffic will shift early Sunday. Streets near the downtown start and Monroe Street Bridge finish close at 5 a.m. and reopen around 2 p.m., while Spokane Transit is running Bloomsday shuttles from five park-and-ride lots between 6:20 a.m. and 9 a.m. (bloomsdayrun.org) (spokanetransit.com) There is also a virtual Bloomsday option running from April 23 through May 3 for people completing the distance on their own course. In Spokane, the 50th running still centers on the same first-Sunday-in-May ritual that started nearly five decades ago. (bloomsdayrun.org) (visitspokane.com)