Not entirely sure why we have a picture of James Joyce today - today isn't named after him, his day is June 16

The Lilac Bloomsday Run, also known as Bloomsday, is an annual timed road race in the northwest United States, held on the first Sunday of May since 1977 in Spokane, Washington. The course length is 12 km (7.456 mi).

Don Kardong, who founded the race, explained the name as "a starting event for the Lilac Festival … you know, lilacs blooming. And of course, I like it because it rhymes with doomsday."

The shortened name Bloomsday is usually associated instead with James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses and celebrations of June 16, the day in the life of Leopold Bloom that the novel chronicles.

The run had over 38,000 participants every year since 1986 until 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Registration peaked in 1996 with 61,298 and 56,156 finishers. Lineth Chepkurui set an unofficial 12 km world record in the 2010 women's race.

The course record of 33:51 was set 16 years ago in 2008 by Micah Kogo, a pace of 4:32.4 per mile and an average speed of 13.217 mph (21.3 km/h). The women's record of 38:03 was set in 2016 by Cynthia Limo, a 5:06.2 per mile pace and an average speed of 11.758 mph (18.9 km/h).