Hermin Garic, Hannah Dederick take wheelchair titles
SPOKANE, Wash. – Tebello Ramakongoana had a simple reason to be patient Sunday.
Competing in his first Lilac Bloomsday Run, the seasoned marathoner from Lesotho reeled in early breakaway leader Shadrack Keter after two miles, and waited until Doomsday Hill to send a message: This race will not be close.
Ramakongoana pulled away from the pack after crossing T.J. Meenach Bridge, was in cruise control as he crested Doomsday, and continued to widen his lead before winning the Men’s Elite championship in 34:40. American Diego Estrada, the former Northern Arizona University star, finished second in a Bloomsday personal best of 34:50. Pius Karanja of Kenya was third in 34:54.
Sarah Naibei of Kenya, who placed eighth in 2023, turned the Women’s Elite race into a runaway before winning her first Bloomsday title in 39:00. Kasanesh Baze of Ethiopia was second (39:25), followed by Daisy Kimeli of Kenya (39:32) and Montanan Makena Morley (39:34), running her 19th Bloomsday. Pre-race favorite Jesca Chelangat had visa problems and never made it to Spokane.
More than 30,000 runners and walkers filled the streets of Spokane for the event’s 48th edition despite a steady rain and cool temperatures in the mid-40s.
Especially undeterred by the weather was early men’s leader Keter, a Kenyan who surged to the front from the start. He hit the first mile in 4:31 with a pack of seven runners in his wake. But by the time he hit mile 2 with a 4:34 split, he was no longer alone. Seven runners remained in the mix through Cemetery Hill at 3 miles, and the pack stayed together as it hit mile 4 in 18:34. Half a mile later, Ramakongoana made his move on Doomsday.
“I told myself I’d take the move on the last hill. That’s where I wanted to win the race,” said Ramakongoana, who hit mile 5 atop Doomsday in 23:08, a split of 4:34. “I was patient because I didn’t know who was strong, who was weak. When they let me go, no one followed me.”
Ramakongoana, who placed fourth in the 2023 World Championship Marathon (2:09:57), looked back only once the rest of the way.
Estrada moved into second place in the Broadway homestretch, but by then the race was over.
“I didn’t give up chasing even until the end, but by that point he was gone,” said Estrada, a 2012 Olympian at10,000 meters. “Today I was hurting a lot, and thought we were going to break the course record, but the times weren’t there.”
Estrada expected to stay in touch after Doomsday, but Ramakongoana was simply too strong.
“I’ve learned after three years that after the first five (miles), you can’t yo-yo,” he said. “Those early hills are tougher than Doomsday. I was trying to entice the guys to run fast, but I didn’t want to be covering the moves. I was confident that we were all going to get together, and then the last 3,000 (meters), if you know how to attack this course, that’s when you go.”
Ramakogoana went, and finished unchallenged. He took home the $7,000 winner’s prize and also won a $2,500 bonus for securing the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) Championship title.
In the women’s event, Naibei opened a 25-second lead down the stretch to win going away, collecting the $7,000 winner’s purse and the $2,500 PRRO Championship bonus. But the race started in a much different fashion.
Morley, the Bigfork native and former University of Colorado star, surged into the early lead. She ran with her head down and went wide on the boulevard, following the media truck instead of the tangent. After realizing her mistake, she crossed the grass and rejoined the pack. By mile 1, a group of six runners had set the pace: Kimeli, Joyline Chemutai, Baze, Morley, Tegest Ayalew, and Naibei.
The pack continued down the hill and back up toward Cemetery Hill following a mile split of 5:06.
Morley, Chemutai, and Ayalew began to fade on Cemetery Hill near 3 miles. By the time the leaders reached Spokane Falls Community College a mile later, it was a three-runner race, with Naibei pushing the pack while Baze stuck to her shoulder and Kimeli tried to hang on.
Kimeli faded as soon as the trio arrived at Doomsday Hill. While Naibei controlled the pace, it was hard to know if Baze was just sitting and waiting. After cresting the hill they hit mile 6 in a split of 5:24, the 10k mark in 32:40, and at 11k Naibei hit the hammer and dropped Baze. After a final look over her shoulder, Naibei strolled down Broadway confident she would win, arms raised to the heavens. Her final pace was 5:14.
In the wheelchair divisions, American Hermin Garic turned the event into a one-man race, finishing well in front in 30:47. Spokane’s Hannah Dederick, out of Central Valley High, took the women’s title in 39:47.
The seventh time was the charm for Garic. Taking his first Bloomsday win, he set the tone among a tight group of six athletes who reached the bottom of Riverside drive at 1-1/2 miles in a tight pack. Garic expanded an ever-increasing lead down the back side of the course and was more than a minute ahead of Wyatt Willand at the bottom of Doomsday Hill.
With no athletes in his rear view as he turned onto Broadway, Garic went on to finish over three minutes ahead of second-place Bloomie rookie Willand from the University of Arizona (33:54). Third was Willand’s teammate and also a Bloomie rookie, Aiden Gravelle, who traversed the course in 34:37.
In the Battle of the Hannahs, Hometown Hannah Dederick took her first Bloomsday win. Her strategy was to be more aggressive in her climbs and sustain control in the descents. Employing the successful game plan, Dederick raced a 39:47, which bettered her closest competition by just under three minutes. In her second runner-up finish in a row, Hannah Babalola of Nigeria raced 42:17, citing challenges with traction on her push-rims in the rain. Third place went to Air Force Major Heather Sealover of Louisiana, a remote training ParaSport Spokane athlete, who set a 10-minute PR of 44: 23.
Winning the masters division was Raphael Botsyo of Ghana in a time of 36:15. Santiago Sanz won his 14th race in the quad division in 41:25.
The 49th edition of Bloomsday will be May 4, 2025.
Contact: Andy Lefriec, 509-954-7947