SPOKANE, Wash. — It is a wide open field in the 47th edition of the Bloomsday Run as there will be no repeat champion in the men's, women's and men's wheelchair open divisions this year.
"We had some really great top runners last year, but the overall depth was a little bit lacking in my opinion," said Andy LeFriec, Bloomsday's elite athlete coordinator. "This year we just have tremendous depth and top end talent that is making me really proud of this field," LeFriec said.
The favorites in the men's and women's open divisions are former Bloomsday champions. Jemal Yimer won the men's title in 2018 and finished third in the 2021 Boston Marathon, while Cynthia Limo went back to back in the women's division in 2015 and 2016, while setting the course record.
Last year's men's runner-up Reid Buchanan will look to run down Yimer and win his first Bloomsday this year.
The women's 10-mile American recordholder Kiera D'Amato will vie for Limo's course record in her first Bloomsday run.
"I had to work hard to get Kiera to come and I don't know how much of the social media stuff I was filling her inbox with, she got, but we are really excited to have her," LeFriec said.
"It was not that long ago that Cynthia let me know she wanted to come and I was just so excited we have our course recordholder coming back. She is going to try and break her own record this year, so this is really exciting," LeFriec said.
In the wheelchair division, all eyes will be on 2023 Boston Marathon champion and Tekoa native Susannah Scaroni, who is seeking her sixth Bloomsday victory.
"Susannah Scaroni is so fit right now. It is just exciting to see her history on this course. She loves coming back home to Bloomsday and carries that banner wherever she goes. She is very proud of this community and what it has done for her, so just to see her come back and race this course is always something special," said David Grieg, the Bloomsday elite wheelchair athlete coordinator.
Ferris graduate Tyler Byers will compete in his 25th Bloomsday race on his 41st birthday, while 11 year old Brooklyn Gossard from Post Falls will make her Bloomsday debut as the youngest wheelchair athlete in the junior division this year.
The elite athletes will kick off Bloomsday at 9:00 AM on Sunday morning.
View the full press conference below:
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