Bloomsday 09

This weekend we are in Spokane to run (walk) in the annual Bloomsday Run. It is about 7 miles and there are about 45,000 participants. I know 4 of those 45,000.
This is a picture of the dreaded Doomsday Hill. At the top of the hill is the mile 5 marker.

The sad thing is that the elite runners have finished by the time our section has crossed the start line. We have only 3 hours of walking to go. And yet every year when we finish and pickup our t shirts we feel quite proud of ourselves for having finish this walk.
I am not one who likes to be in crowds, and yet this is quite different, there is a sense of excitement and a lot of consideration among the walkers.

One cool thing about this event is that in the morning the temperature is usually pretty cool, so a lot of people are wearing sweatshirts. When the race starts they remove their sweatshirts and throw them into the trees. After the race some organization collects all the sweatshirts and they are given to the needy in Spokane. Pretty cool!