By Nella Letizia

"It all started in the 1940s when we were running through the woods chasing bears…" A sardonic Ken Kardong explains how his younger brother Don founded the world’s largest timed road race. "It’s his fault."

His wife, Willi, a coordinator in the President’s Office, shushes good-naturedly at her husband, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, long used to the friendly rivalry between the Kardong brothers. She is the keeper and teller of the family legend, how Don led 1,200 runners in the first Lilac Bloomsday Run the first Sunday of May 1977. Don’s tribute to Spokane and all runners everywhere followed the 1976 Olympics in Montreal—where Don finished fourth in the marathon—and built on the nation’s growing love affair with running at that time.

A literary man and longtime schoolteacher, Don named Bloomsday as a reference to James Joyce’s Ulysses, in which the central character, Leopold Bloom, wanders the streets of Dublin, Ireland, a parody of the great journey taken by the Greek hero. Scholars call his day of wandering Bloomsday. Don saw in the name the appeal of committed runners adopting Spokane as their course in their own journeys. The name also doubled nicely with Spokane’s Lilac Festival.

Don’s perceived onetime deal is today the epic pilgrimage of some 60,000 participants each year.

"It’s a personal odyssey, a personal experience," Willi says of the race she has participated in for 22 of its 25 years. "Each individual member of the race goes through their own personal quest. That’s what is special about the name Bloomsday."

Since Bloomsday’s founding, the Pullman chapter of the Kardong family has been part of that 7.5-mile odyssey. Ken ran in his brother’s inaugural Bloomsday and has been in all but two races. Willi did not participate in the first two races, but started running as a result of watching and being inspired by a group of women runners at Bloomsday. Their children, Kyle and Jason, started running Bloomsday when they were 10 and 8 respectively.

Ken and Willi, memories coming fast and furious, talk about running the course baking in 75-degree heat and sprinkled by prerace snow. In 1977 and 1978, race time was noon. In the midday heat, Don, running past residents’ houses, asked people to spray down the runners to keep them cool. Hence, another Bloomsday tradition was born.

But this year, Bloomsday’s silver anniversary, a special Kardong first takes place. All 16 members of Don’s extended family—four generations in identical, royal blue T-shirts—will join the Bloomsday ranks May 6 as Team Kardong. The human spectrum includes 83-year-old Charlene, Don and Ken’s mother, on one end and 6-month-old Kieran, Kyle’s son, on the other. Oldest and youngest get their own wheels—family members will push Charlene’s wheelchair and Kieran’s stroller. "Honorary Kardongs" also make up the motley crew. Ken will run again as a member of one of the WSU corporate teams.

"This will be the first time that Charlene has ever participated in the actual Bloomsday Run, but she traveled to Spokane for every Bloomsday except the first one as part of annual family celebrations," Willi says. "For many years, this annual trip also included Don’s late father, Ray.

"All of us Kardongs are really looking forward to wearing our ‘Team Kardong’ T-shirts during this very special, once-in-a-lifetime experience."

There have been other highlights for Ken and Willi in two decades of Bloomsday. One of Willi’s greatest came three years ago, when she placed third in her age group, 55 and over. Her finish earned Willi an invitation to race with the corporate team the next year. Ken can’t resist lumping Willi in the "80 and over" category, but Willi gets the last laugh; Ken’s best placement was 27th in his age group. Marathon runner Don, of course, outdistanced both of them, finishing third overall in 1977 and 1979, but Ken insists his brother never beat him.

Except once. Five years ago, Ken broke his ankle coming down a hill with a tight pack of runners when he stepped on a stone the wrong way. Family members began to worry when he didn’t reach the finish line in his usual time, under an hour. But Ken still finished with the help of volunteers—and got the T-shirt to prove it.

Ken also remembers when wheelchair racers didn’t start before the runners. He barely heard a shouted "Coming through!" before one of the racers streaked past him, usually sporting a huge grin. "The good ones just ran you over."

Other memories? Willi looks forward to the big family brunch afterward. Ken anticipates the last quarter mile, when the theme from the movie "Rocky" ushers him across the finish line. Above all, they relive the thrill of being surrounded by 60,000 journey-seekers like themselves.

"There’s some excitement to be part of that horde once a year," Willi says. "We always line up really early, talk to people around us. They come from all over."