Past champs Diriba, Geay back for Bloomsday
SPOKANE — Buze Diriba will try for a three-peat, and Gabriel Geay a repeat in the 43rd Lilac Bloomsday Run this Sunday.
A third straight victory for Diriba, of Ethiopia, would notch her place in history as one of only four women who have won Bloomsday three years in a row, the others being Anne Audain (1981-83), Jane Omoro (1998-2000) and Lineth Chepkurui (2008-10).
For Geay, of Tanzania, Bloomsday will be an opportunity to reclaim the title that he captured so convincingly in 2017, when as a Bloomsday novice and late entrant he surprised a tough international field with his decisive victory sprint on the homestretch. 2018 was a different story, as Geay faded to a 13th-place finish.
Although Diriba and Wanjiru are the pre-race favorites, they’re expected to have plenty of competition at the front, including Monicah Ngige of Kenya, who ran the third fastest 5-kilometer time in the world this year as well as winning the Cooper River Bridge Run. In addition, 19-year-old Esther Wanjiru of Kenya has recorded impressive marks this spring and could be a surprise factor.
In the men’s race, last year’s champ Jemal Yimer will not return, as he was required by the Ethiopian Federation to report back to Ethiopia to participate in his country’s 10,000-meter trials, which are being held this weekend. Even so, Geay won’t have an easy time of it, as Kenyans Silas Kipruto and Dominic Korir will be after the champion’s crown as well. Kipruto won this spring’s Cooper River Bridge Run in a sizzling time of 27:58, while Korir was the Azalea Trail 10K champion.
Top Americans in the men’s race include Alex Monroe of Longmont, Colo., who has a personal best 10,000 of 28:17.03, and Andrew Epperson of Fort Collins, Colo., who ran 63:17 at the 2019 Houston Half Marathon. For the women, top Americans include Lindsey Scherf, who was eighth at Bloomsday 2016, and Shalaya Kipp, a 2012 Olympian in the steeplechase.
A field of nearly 40,000 runners and walkers are expected to have entered by the time registration closes this evening. Procrastinators will have until 6:30 tonight to sign up.