Spokane, WA—Megan O’Reilly, a runner for Mt. Spokane High School and Bloomsday’s envoy to the prestigious Carlsbad 5000 in southern California last Sunday, also ended up as one of the event’s top finishers. O’Reilly recorded a time of 17:45 for the 5-kilometer course, the fastest finish of the day among 13-17-year-old girls. Her time was also good for 13thoverall out of 1561 runners in the race among women age 39 and younger, one of nine separate 5-K races held at the April 3rd event.
“Besides the accurate, fast, beautiful course and a 5k best for me, the people I met while I was in Carlsbad are what truly made the trip,” said O’Reilly.
O’Reilly and her mother, Marie Cole, traveled to Carlsbad, a seaside village about 20 miles north of San Diego, as representatives of the Lilac Bloomsday Run. Spokesman-Review outdoor writer Rich Landers won the trip to Carlsbad in a drawing held among January online entrants of Bloomsday, but he was unable to attend. Landers donated the trip to O’Reilly and her mother because O’Reilly’s high school cross-country season had been derailed due to stress fractures, and Landers felt O’Reilly would be recovered and able to turn in a top performance at Carlsbad.
Those interested in fast times in Spokane have one week left to sign up for Bloomsday for the on-time fee of $10.00. Entry forms are available at area Washington Trust Banks, Safeway Stores, Snyder’s Bakery Outlets, Premera Blue Cross, Holy Family Hospital and Sacred Heart Medical Center. Runners can also sign up at Gart Sports’ two local stores until 9:00 pm on the deadline day, April 12th. Mail entries must be postmarked by April 12 to avoid the late entry fee of $25.00.
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