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Madison Pearson photo
Kirsten Monasmith and Bill Gross from Shriners Children's hospital.
The weather is warming up a bit and rain is falling almost every day, but it's never truly spring in Spokane until the first Sunday in May.
Bloomsday has been happening on the streets of Spokane since May of 1977 and the timed 12K road race is an annual tradition for many Spokanites as well as thousands of people from around the world. This year, Bloomsday falls on May 5.
On Thursday morning, the Lilac Bloomsday Association held a press conference to reveal this year's charity of choice, the 2024 official poster, and to honor those who have been running the race every year since 1977... as well as a certain iconic feathered friend.
This year's charity is Shriners Children's Hospital.
"We are so grateful and thankful to be chosen as the charity of choice for 2024," said Kirsten Monasmith, the director of marketing and communications at Shriners Children's Hospital. "2024 is actually a big milestone for our hospital as we are actually celebrating 100 years of caring for kids. "
The yearly charity of choice "stands as a beacon of community support and compassion" according to the Bloomsday website, and is "the focal point of [Bloomsday's] philanthropic endeavors, channeling the collective generosity of participants and supporters toward a meaningful cause."
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Madison Pearson photo
The Vulture aka Bill Robinson, stands with Mark Starr.
Race founder Don Kardong announced that this year's perennials, people who have run every Bloomsday since its inception, will be honored with a special shirt that they can wear on race day. The youngest perennial is 59 and the oldest is 87.
"There are 75 perennials as of this year," Kardong said. "And I'm putting them all in bright pink shirts!"
So, on race day, if you see someone donning a bright pink shirt, chances are they deserve a huge pat on the back for their dedication to Bloomsday.
Next, Bloomsday board member and David's Pizza owner Mark Starr honored this year's Hall of Fame award winner.
"We don't have an elephant in the room," he jokingly remarked. "But we do have a buzzard."
At that moment, the iconic Doomsday Vulture made its way up to the front of the room... all 11 feet of it.
The man behind the vulture is Bill Robinson, who has been 'perching' himself on top of Doomsday Hill during Bloomsday for 36 years now all while dressed in the huge vulture costume. Robinson serves as a fixture of Bloomsday and 2024 marks his second year back at Doomsday after recovering from heart surgery.
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Madison Pearson photo
The 2024 race poster designed by Art Mercz.
Because the first weekend in May also marks 50 years since Spokane held Expo '74, Bloomsday has decided to run with an Expo theme for this year's volunteer shirt, poster and souvenir race medal.
Art Mercz, the artist behind the 2024 race poster, has been entering both the shirt and poster competition for about 12 years now.
"My concept this year was to get a feeling of connectedness to the route itself," he says. "I also wanted to try and convey the changes that we all face as runners and humans with the soft gradient going up."
Mercz is a freelance graphic designer, and you might recognize his work from the 40th Bloomsday shirt or the logos of a few local businesses like CAL Cars and Luxe Salon and Spa.
The poster features elements tied to Expo like the use of blue, green and yellow, as well as replacing the "a" in Bloomsday with the Expo logo originally designed by Spokane artist Lloyd L. Carson.
In addition to continuing to offer a virtual option for Bloomies who want to run on their own time, Jr. Bloomsday will be offered again this year at Spokane Falls Community College on April 14 for kids in grades 3-7.
No matter how you participate, make sure to have fun, be safe and enjoy the community of your fellow Bloomies.
Visit
bloomsdayrun.org for registration information.