Zortman, Malta residents compete in Spokane Run

On Sunday, May 3, 2015 over 4,200 people competed in the 39th running of the The Lilac Bloomsday Run, a 12K (7.46 mile) race held in Spokane, Washington.

Among the finishers were Jack Kelly of Zortman, who ran his thirtieth Bloomsday race, placing first for his age group with a time of 1:13:40, Thea Solberg of Malta with a time of 1:05:01, Carly Solberg {wife of Kenny} of Issaquah, WA with a time of 1:06:42, and Kenny Solberg of Issaquah, WA with a time of 1:14:03. The four ran together representing three generations, {Father, daughter, and grandson}. The Lilac Bloomsday Run welcomes all runners, walkers, wheelchairs, assisted wheelchairs and strollers to the challenging course, with its infamous Doomsday Hill. 1976 Olympic marathoner Don Kardong was the inspiration behind the race and with its inception on May 1, 1977 when over a thousand runners participated, has lured in many runners and attracts the world's top competitors and pays prize money to the winners. In 1996 an all-time high of 61,298 participants completed the race. "It's like a colorful moving city, snaking along for seven and a half miles. There are people cheering you on and bands playing music all along the route. This really helps because it's a pretty tough course and sometime during the race you wonder why you've decided to do this, but when you cross the finish line and receive your reward which is the t-shirt and a smile comes across your face; you feel a sense of accomplishment from all those weeks of training. It's a great feeling." Thea Solberg stated. Photo was taken at Riverfront Park, sight of the 1974 World's Fair.