Run to the Hills
Avoid pre-race jitters with a jog before the big day. The Flying Irish Running Club meets every Thursday for beers and roughly a threemile run. In honor of Bloomsday, the group will host a “hill run” two days before the race. Get your game face on.
New chips will time you running up Doomsday Hill
The mayor's plans for the race
Five race-course acts to slow down for
Everything else going on this weekend
Last year's hot dog on the keys to a good costume
Flying Irish Running Club • May 3 at 6 pm • Free • Red Lion River Inn • 700 N. Division St. • flyingirish.org
Meet-and-Greet
Pick up your race packet earlier rather than later to avoid the madhouse, and view hundreds of vendors, fitness-related exhibits, activities and events. Plus, it’s a good way to pick up on hotties before you’re sweaty, chafed and blistered from the race.
Bloomsday Trade Show • May 4 from 11:30 am-8 pm, May 5 from 9 am-6:30 pm • Free • Spokane Convention Center • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • bloomsdayrun.org (838-1579)
Adorableness
Hug a mascot, grab a camera and capture the kiddos during the seventh annual Marmot March. The 1.2-mile race is for children second grade or younger and their guardians
Marmot March • May 5 from 10 am • Riverfront Park • 507 N. Howard St. • bloomsdayrun.org (838-1579)
Bicycle Parking
The Spokane Bicycle Club will provide a secure space for Bloomsday participants to park their bicycles, drop off jackets, bags, picnic baskets and more.
Bicycle Corral • May 6 from 7:30 am-2 pm • Free • Riverfront Park • 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. (448-6271)
Drink Beer, Ride Bikes
Did you bring your trusty two-wheeled steed to the Lilac City? Perfect. A local bike group called the F---ing Bike Club (FBC) will meet for their annual Full Moon Fiasco on Saturday. The casual bike group — mostly casual cyclists, mostly casual drinkers — meets at a tavern every full moon for an urban bike ride to a mystery location. This month, the festivities fall on Cinco de Mayo.
Expect Nacho Libre moustaches, rotgut shots of Jose Cuervo, and 100 or so Americans that don’t fully understand the holiday. But please, as cool as your beakless fixie with monkey lights may be, ride responsibly. The FBC does its best to stay in one lane, follow the rules of the road, and have lights.
Full Moon Fiasco • May 5 at 8 pm • 21+ • Free • The Swamp Tavern • 1904 W. Fifth Ave. • fbcspokane.blogspot. com (458-2337)
Eat Your Heart Out
Some people eat their carbohydrates with dinner. Others through beer. Thankfully, Luigi’s Italian Restaurant has both. Each year the downtown eatery offers traditional Italian food to those who subscribe to the carbohydrate-loading philosophy and those who are simply gluttonous and blessed with uber-fast metabolisms. Regardless of the camp you’re in, stop by before or after the race for a heaping portion of bread, cheese-filled manicotti, four-cheese sausage lasagna or fettuccine alfredo.
Each year, the restaurant offers discounted menu items and boasts that they serve more than 2,000 pounds of pasta in their annual pre-Bloomsday carbo-load. Stop by early. The restaurant will be open from noon-11 pm before and after the race.
Carbo-Load Extravaganza • May 5-6 from noon-11 pm • Luigi’s Italian Restaurant • 245 W. Main Ave. • luigis-spokane. com (624-5226)
Poster Gallery
View the full collection of official Boomsday posters, artwork and photography spanning the race’s 30 years. Don’t miss the foliage shirts and sweet-ass running paraphernalia from the 1970s.
Bloomsday Poster Exhibit • April 1-May 31, Mon-Sat 10 am-6 pm• Free • Downtown Library • 906 W. Main Ave., Third Floor • spokanelibrary.org (444-5336)
Hot Dogs and Horses
You’ve goosed the metal runners statues. You’ve passed out in the grass after 7.46 miles, and if you are a true “bloomie” you’ve refused to pay for parking and instead walked an additional five miles just to get to your car. Now relax. Before or after your big day pounding the pavement, take in what Riverfront Park has to offer.
Catch John Carter at the IMAX Theater. Reach for the golden ring on the Looff Carrousel. Take in the view at the Spokane Falls SkyRide. Play mini-golf or, if nothing else, slide down the world’s largest red wagon and feed the garbage-eating goat.
Riverfront Park Attractions • 507 N. Howard St. • Prices vary • spokaneriverfrontpark.com (625-6601)
