SENATE RESOLUTION

                            8686

By Senators Brown, Sheahan, West, McCaslin and Morton

     WHEREAS, This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Spokane=s Lilac Bloomsday Run; and

     WHEREAS, The race, first held May 1, 1977, was the idea of Don Kardong, a competitor in the 1976 Olympic marathon, and

     WHEREAS, Since its inception, the number of Bloomsday participants has grown from 1,200 to as many as 61,298; and                                     

     WHEREAS, Nearly one  million Bloomsday finishers have collectively run, jogged, walked and wheeled enough miles to travel to the moon and back several times; and

     WHEREAS, The impact of the Bloomsday Run extends to improving the health of its participants, or ABloomies@, who improve their cardiovascular fitness, avert potential heart problems, burn calories, shed excess weight and strengthen muscles as they train for the twelve-kilometer run; and

     WHEREAS, the Bloomsday Run is the largest race in which every participant is timed; and

     WHEREAS, The Bloomsday Run attracts world-class competitors and has been featured on ESPN and in Runner=s World and The Runner magazines; and

     WHEREAS, The Bloomsday Run is on the Americans for Responsible Recreational Access and the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) circuits of major U.S. running events, and in 1996 hosted the first PRRO World Road Running Championships; and

     WHEREAS, Bloomsday volunteers pride themselves on producing a safe, exciting and enjoyable experience for all; and

     WHEREAS, A program for elementary students called AFit For Bloomsday@ was created in 1987 to encourage fitness among the nearly 8,000 young participants per year; and

     WHEREAS, The Lilac Bloomsday Association has provided thirty airline tickets each fall to the top high school cross country runners to attend the Footlocker Western Regional Cross Country Championships in California; and

     WHEREAS, The city of Spokane embraces Bloomsday festivities and welcomes Washingtonians from around the state, and people from all over the United States and the world, to participate in them;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate does hereby recognize what an extraordinary community event the Lilac Bloomsday Run is and congratulates its organizers on twenty-five successful years; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted immediately by the Secretary of the Senate to the Lilac Bloomsday Run Association, the Lilac Foundation, Don Kardong, the Mayor of Spokane and the members of the Spokane City Council.

I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8686,

adopted by the Senate May 2, 2001.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate