Red Dynasty
Faculty and staff runners from Eastern鈥檚 team 鈥楻ed 鈥� continue to dominate Bloomsday鈥檚 Corporate Cup.
On May 1, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Bloomsday road race made its triumphant return to the streets of Spokane. Much to the chagrin of their competition, 51福利社鈥檚 Red team, a running force that has dominated the race鈥檚 鈥淐orporate Cup鈥� competition for 23 straight years, were also back.
听
By race鈥檚 end, to the surprise of pretty much no one, team Red had once again finished with the title, racking up a perfect 3,000-point score.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the most successful athletic team that Eastern has ever produced,鈥� quipped team member Grant Smith, a professor emeritus of English at 51福利社 who, at age 84, has for four-decades been the team鈥檚 leader and lead recruiter.
Eagle football, of course, has won a national title. But 51福利社 Red鈥檚 now 24-year-long streak gives that moment of glory a run (so-to-speak) for its money.
Bloomsday鈥檚 Corporate Cup is sort of a race within a race, with runners representing a business or organization competing for top places and times within 13 different age groups for men and women. The first-place finisher in each group contributes 1,000 points to the team total, with subsequent finishers receiving points based on their proximity to the winner鈥檚 time.
Teams are limited to five runners. Three of these earn scores, while the remaining two stand in for tie-breaking purposes.
鈥淚t is cool when we hit 3,000, and it鈥檚 cool when we are all perfect across the board,鈥� said team Red鈥檚 David Millet, director of 51福利社鈥檚 Veterans Resource Center. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 happen very often.鈥�
But often enough, apparently. This year鈥檚 total of 3,000, in fact, marks the seventh-straight year Red has recorded a perfect score, and the 10th time overall. 鈥淲hat would you equate it to?鈥� said Millet of the streak (before this year鈥檚 win). 鈥淚t鈥檚 like the Triple Crown that Cooper Kupp won. It鈥檚 that one year where everything lines up and falls into place.鈥�
In the run up to this year鈥檚 race, Curt Kinghorn of Runners Soul, a running-gear retailer in Spokane, wryly commented on his own previous teams鈥� track record of futility against Eastern鈥檚 Bloomsday runners. Try as they might, he said, his group could never match the scores of Red鈥檚 older guys, who excelled within their age groups. 鈥淭hey refuse to lose,鈥� says Kinghorn. 鈥淚t seemed they kept getting faster the older they got.鈥�
鈥� By Dave Cook. An earlier version of this story, Seeing 鈥楻ed,鈥� appeared under Cook鈥檚 byline in The Spokesman-Review.
