The meeting began with introductions, including memories of Bloomsday.
Don Kardong used powerpoint to illustrate his experiences helping organize the yearly Bloomsday race. The idea for Bloomsday was born after Don particpated in the Olympics - he finished 4th (was awarded the "wooden" medal by his friends) and returned home as a local celebrity. During an interview with the newspaper he suggested an idea for a street race in Spokane. A chance elevator meeting with the Mayor and a Lion Club member, who had both read the article, resulted in BLOOMSDAY 1977.
"Lessons learned" have been a big factor in continuous improvements to planning and coordination of the event. Planning is a year long project, which begins at the completion of each race. The commmittee proactively brainstorms "issues" to be improved on, and trades tips with other race planning groups. Don had some entertaining stories from other groups. New York Marathon was faced with a crime scene occuring on the race track soon before the race started - the challenge was making the police dept realize their forensics would soon be trampled! At another event, the race route needed to change at the 11th hour - and was successfully communicated to the racers via "twitter," making Don wonder if Bloomsday needs a social network site.
Head counts of the runners over the years has resulted in interesting metrics. The race hit peak participation at over 60,000 runners, then fell off and leveled out for several years. After head counts fell sharply again, then leveled for several years, the committee wanted to learn why. To determine if there was disatisfaction about the event, the committee hired a survey team to contact past runners and ask why they had quit participating. The most common answer: "I forgot to register." Increased media attention has resulted in increased numbers for the past couple of years. Don wonders if the weather might also be involved, as people might embrace spring more after long winters. He is very interested to see if the upward trend in registrations continues this year, after a mild winter. Don also shared some one of this years improvements - a new way of timing the runners is being tried. It will be cheaper, more accurate, with faster turn around time generating the times.
Results of the critque forms returned after this meeting:
