Bloomsday 2010

This past Sunday we kept the tradition of running the Bloomsday Run. Although we did not travel to Spokane, WA, we were able to participate by running at the same time as our "wave": 9:30am in Spokane, or 6:30pm in Metterich, Germany. Bloomsday is a very special run for this family for many reasons. First, Andrea's father Jim has run 32 of the 33 Bloomsday races...missing only the first year. Then there are the many childhood memories of Andrea running with her family and friends. And finally, we have made attending this race a tradition since we began dating way back in early 2000. Keeping our tradition of running this race was a great time and we look forward to next year.

Our special poster announcing the 1st Annual Bloomsday from Germany


We thought of keeping true to some of the well-known traditions associated with running Bloomsday, but it was too cold to stand outside in the street knocking around a beach ball, and we thought our neighbors might find it weird when we threw our outer layer of clothing into the branches of the surrounding trees.

Bloomsday is known for it's tough hills. It seems either you are running flat or running straight up or down. Around Metterich, there are many hills and it seems that you are NEVER running flat. I'm sure it was an easier 12K than the real thing, but the "fresh" smell in the air of fertilizer added to the degree of difficulty.

Our version of Doomsday hill: about a mile long and seemed to never quit.


Although there was no bands playing along the way nor free shirt at the end, it was a great race. Maybe next year we can bring in a German polka band to play at the finish line and who knows, maybe we can recruit some people from the village to help us knock the beach ball around before the race.