I've spent a fair amount of time running around Spokane. This spring, I'm finishing up my fifth year running cross country and track at Gonzaga University. In collegiate running there's never really an "off" season — we train pretty much every day, 365 days a year. This means I've gotten to know the city pretty well on foot. Through the easy runs, hard workouts and races around Spokane, I've come to regard it as a great place for distance running, just as plenty of resident runners long have. Here's why.
COMMUNITY
One of the best things about running is getting to do it with other people. I'm lucky because my teammates are built-in running buddies, although it wouldn't be hard to find a running group if I didn't have them. There are numerous run clubs in the area including the Bloomsday Road Runners Club, Spokane Valley Running Club, the all-women Spokane Swifts Running Team and many others. I've seen these groups out for practice and competing at the region's biggest road races such as the famous Bloomsday and new Boulevard Race. As a Bloomsday supporter myself, I've experienced firsthand that palpable energy of the community as we battle Doomsday Hill together and race by the courthouse on the way to the finish.
TRAILS
If there's one place I've run the most during my Gonzaga career, it's the Centennial Trail, the 64-mile trail stretching from Nine Mile Falls to Coeur d'Alene. The majority of the mostly flat paved trail parallels the Spokane River, offering impressive views that might just take your breath away — if the running hasn't already. Eventually, the Centennial Trail will connect with the Children of the Sun Trail paralleling the North Spokane Corridor; it currently goes from the Little Spokane River to Hillyard. The lack of traffic interruptions allows for long, continuous runs while admiring the city's different neighborhoods.
NATURE
Drive 10 minutes in any direction from downtown Spokane and you have access to nature, or to what I refer to as "country roads." Essentially long stretches of road or trail with few cars surrounded by fields, trees, cliffs or brush. Many of these routes are unpaved, providing a soft surface of gravel or dirt for longer runs. Personal favorites include the James T. Slavin Conservation Area, Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and Fish Lake Trail.
FACILITIES
BLOOMSDAY 2024
It's not too late to register for the 48th running of Bloomsday, on Sunday, May 5! Late registration is $50, and can be done online at bloomsdayrun.org or in person at the Bloomsday Trade Show at the Spokane Convention Center on Fri, May 3 (11 am-7 pm) or Sat, May 4 (9 am-4 pm).
In December 2021 the new downtown multisport venue, The Podium, opened, featuring a 200-meter, six-lane hydraulically banked track. The Podium hosts a series of indoor track meets in winter, including the 2022 USATF Indoor Championships, which brought some of the best athletes in the nation to Spokane. In terms of cross country, a Spokane Valley cross course complex is set to be completed in August 2025. A project of the City of Spokane Valley and Spokane Sports commission, the course will sit on a 46-acre site along the north side of the Spokane River off of Flora Road. In addition to a running course, the facility is set to have a clubhouse, restrooms and expansive parking, making it a world-class facility capable of hosting high-level events such as NCAA cross-country meets.
LEGENDS
Pat Tyson, Don Kardong, Gerry Lindgren, Mead High School, North Central High School and Ferris High School are a few of the names synonymous with distance running in Spokane. A 2022 report on Washington state high school cross country history regards the Mead and North Central programs as the two greatest boy's cross-country programs in the state, with Ferris as the fifth. Tyson, a former University of Oregon teammate of Steve Prefontaine, coached Mead to 12 state championships during his 20-year stint there, and is now Gonzaga's head men's cross country and track coach. The former Olympic marathoner Kardong famously founded Bloomsday in 1977, creating an ongoing legacy of distance racing in Spokane. Lindgren, a Rogers High School graduate and WSU runner, set 57 American records, landing him in numerous halls of fame, including WSU, USA Track & Field, and Washington Sports. Clearly, Spokane is a place for distance-running success. ♦
