When I think back to high school and college cross-country, some of my fondest memories are from time spent travelling to a meet. We spent hours in a van or on a bus getting to know one another, creating friendships and a sense of belonging. Traveling together is what created our bond as teammates.
As adults, we rarely get to experience that, especially if we exercise alone and travel to races solo.
Run Wild Missoula’s bus to the Lilac Bloomsday 12K on May 6 helps create a spirit of camaraderie while also providing a convenient way for runners to travel to Spokane and back in one day.
Register for the bus and the race by this Friday, April 13 and the cost is only $50 for the bus and $17 for the race. If you register after April 13 the bus costs $70 and the race fee is $35.
Why spend the extra money on a hotel room? Instead travel to Spokane and back in one day deal and experience the camaraderie between the runners and walkers on the bus.
The bus will depart the Parking Garage on Main Street in Missoula at 5:15 a.m. (local time) and then make a stop at Starbucks on Grand Creek Road at 5:30 a.m. for a coffee break and to pick up other runners and walkers. The bus will arrive in Spokane at approximately 8 a.m. local time.
Participants will get their race number and packet handed to them when they get off the bus. The hosts of the bus, Carol Hedges and Bonnie Fergerson, have participated in Bloomsday for many years and will help newbies navigate the large race.
Those on the bus will have an option to purchase a day pass to the Spokane YMCA for $5 so they can shower and relax indoors before the ride home. Members of the YMCA should bring their membership card so they can be admitted free of charge. The bus leaves Spokane at 1 p.m. Pacific time and arrives in Missoula at about 5:30 p.m. Montana time.
Run Wild Missoula provides breakfast, snacks, water, sports drink, and other goodies on the bus. The bus is a Beachliner, has a bathroom and is very comfortable. Last year we filled a 55-passenger bus and we hope to have enough people to fill two busses this year.
Before participating in Bloomsday or another race, be sure to get your Run Wild Missoula singlet so you can show everyone that you are part of the club. The new custom singlets cost $25 for Run Wild Missoula members and $28 for non-members. Purchase them online or at the Runner’s Edge, 325 N. Higgins Avenue.
Here’s how to register for the bus to Bloomsday:
- Registration BEFORE April 13 at 5 p.m.: Return this form with $50 made out to RWM and include the paper race registration form with $17 made out to Bloomsday or register for Bloomsday online.
- Registration April 14 – May 2: Return the form linked above with $70 made out to RWM. Register for the race online. Mail bus and race registration form to Run Wild Missoula, PO Box 1573, Missoula, MT 59806 or deliver to the Runners Edge, 325 N. Higgins.
We hope to see you on the bus!
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Planning to run the 2012 Missoula Marathon? Check out Eva’s post about the marathon training program.
Stay in the loop with Missoula’s running community! Check out the Run/Walk It archives for more posts from Eva and other Missoula runners and walkers.
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Eva Dunn-Froebig is the executive director of Run Wild Missoula and has been running since the seventh grade. She moved to Missoula 12 years ago from upstate New York to attend the University of Montana’s Journalism School graduate program. Eva never dreamed that she would have a running-related job and feels lucky to be a participant in Missoula’s vibrant running community.