Creating an event as integral to Spokane’s spring as the Lilac Bloomsday Run takes a village of people donating their time, money and experience, but the idea for the 12-kilometer road race came from just one man: Don Kardong.
Before Bloomsday was ever a thought, Kardong was a young athlete on the west side of Washington. Growing up in Bellevue, he played basketball, Little League baseball and even a season of football (spent on the bench).
It wasn’t until his sophomore year of high school, when he got into long-distance running to up his endurance on the basketball court, that he learned what his legs could do. He competed with both the cross country and track teams at Seattle Preparatory School and then at Stanford University, where the legendary Steve Prefontaine of Oregon was his rival on the track…