Bloomsday # 28 for Jackie was a Good One!

Spokane is a beautiful city. It really shines on Bloomsday Sunday. A 12k race that anyone can participate in. Elite runner, wheel chair athlete, everyday runner, walker, and strollers. It is fantastic. So organized that you don't even notice that you are off and running with 45,000+ other people. We arrived downtown about 45 minutes before our start time. It was windy and cold. I couldn't keep my hood from blowing up on my head for this picture.

Of course everyone had to get their last bathroom stop in before the race. Here we are lined up and waiting for a porta potty! I am in that group.

Here are some of the food places that are in Riverfront Park. They are just waiting for us to all get finished so they can sell us some food. The lines get really long after the race! 7.46 miles makes you hungry!!!!!

Some people had mini doughnuts before they ran/walked. I don't think I could do that. They would sit in my stomach like lead. I did get a popsicle on the course this year. No line so I just grabbed and kept on going!

I like this picture of Mike by the fountain in the park. He looks happy! Someone should tell him that he has 7.46 miles of walking ahead of him. On second thought! No don't tell!

Here we are still smiling and thinking no problem! It is only a few miles. I was really excited for this Bloomsday. It was my 28th Bloomsday. It is fun too see everyone walking toward their starting place. There are several different colors of race tags. You are assigned your color based on the time you think you will get. Different colors line up on different streets. There is a staggered start otherwise no one would be able to move!

This is the best picture ever. This is a family from Medical Lake. I had one of these wonderful kids in my class. Priceless picture!

I told you Spokane is beautiful!

Here we are at our start area. Mike did a great job taking these starting line pictures. This is only one of many streets filled with people!

We started in the orange section!

Here are more pictures of the crowd in the orange section taken by Mike. Can you believe all these people!

People watch the start of the race from the sky walks that connect all the stores in the downtown area! They are warm and we aren't!

When people start warming up they start shedding clothes. It is tradition to wear a sweatshirt and toss it in the trees when you don't need it anymore. The clothes are gathered up and donated.

Here we go! Isn't this an awesome view of the old buildings in downtown Spokane!

There are bands all along the course. The music really helps get you going. You can go online and vote for your favorite band after the race.

This is about 4 miles into the race. Look closely just below the dirt hills! Can you see all the people going up what has been named "Doomsday Hill"? The hill is about 3/4 of a mile long and pretty steep. You can hear the rumble in the crowd when you first see the hill. People saying "There it is!!!"

Getting closer to climbing Doomsday Hill!

Starting the climb. At the top of the hill there is giant vulture (someone in a costume).

We wanted to get a picture with the vulture but there was a line if you can believe that!

This picture is taken on Doomsday Hill looking back at the crowd behind us!The race is over and we are all walking to get our shirts! Yippee. I ran into a couple of bees or bugs??? Cute which ever they are!

The roaring and raging Spokane River!Here is a band from First Presbyterian Church where Mike and I go to church. They sounded great!

We finally made it to the finisher t-shirts. Love the color! T-Shirt # 28 for me. Not sure for Mike! I told Mike that I was "happy"!

Can you spot the metal runners? These runners line the park as a tribute to Bloomsday and those who complete the race!

Another pic of beautiful Spokane!

I wasn't sure Crazy Mike was going to make it back to the car. He is getting old you know! :-)

This spot holds some fond memories for me. Katie was about 3 years old and she saw this little amphitheatre in the park. She ran up to the front and danced and sang for us. I can still remember the cute little pink outfit she had on and her long, curly, blond hair blowing in the wind. She still loves the stage!

The Spokane River is always impressive this time of year.

The race started for the elite runners about 9AM. The rest of us started in about 15 minute intervals. Mike and I were leaving after having lunch in the park. This is about 1 tenth of a mile before the finish line. It was 1:10 and there were still a lot of people on the race course. This was the stroller section.

A great day. God willing I will be able to do 50 Bloomsdays!!! I think I will shoot for 30 first. We had great weather. Just right once we got going. No injuries for us and we completed the course. Not sure of our time. We are thinking we did it in about 2 hours. I prayed that there would be no rain! There wasn't. Thanks God! God is good!