Hannah Babalola repeats, Jacob Allen blazes to first wheelchair title
The Lilac Bloomsday Run celebrated its 50th birthday on Sunday, but in some ways the morning had more of a 4th of July feel.
Reid Buchanan and Kassie Parker made it a red, white and blue day in Spokane, becoming the first pair of Americans to win the 12-kilometer test in the same year since 1980.
And for Buchanan, it meant exorcising a demon.
The 33-year-old University of Portland graduate had victory in his sights back in 2022, steaming toward the Monroe Street Bridge finish with what seemed to be a healthy lead. But Kenyan Charles Wanjiku surged on the downhill and overtook Buchanan in the final two strides, just the second instance in which the top two men’s finishers were given the same time
This time, Buchanan took no chances, bolting away from Ghana’s William Amponsah and Gonzaga University alum James Mwaura at the 7-mile mark and quickly building a 25-yard cushion that held up in the final sprint – and made him the first American men’s winner since Jon Sinclair in 1986. His time of 34 minutes, 30 seconds – three seconds ahead of the fast-closing Mwaura – was the fourth-fastest U.S. time in Bloomsday history.
Parker brought the hammer down even earlier. A seven-time NCAA Division III track and cross-country champion from little Loras College, the 26-year-old Iowan took apart the lead pack barely two miles into the race and cruised to an 18-second victory over Rachael Rudel – though the gap was considerably greater until the last half mile.
Parker’s 39:21 clocking is No. 5 on Bloomsday’s U.S. women’s list, and made her the first American winner since Colleen De Reuck in 2002. Spokane’s Kim Jones was the last U.S.-born women’s champ in 1997.
With the Bloomsday “bonus” for American citizens, that meant $12,000 paydays for the winners and $7,000 for the runners-up.
The milestone 50th Bloomsday couldn’t have had a better stage – glorious blue skies and temperatures in the low 60s – with 43,687 registered runners and walkers the most since 2016.
The men’s race had a wide-open feel at the gun, not that Buchanan conceded as much. The only two Bloomsday veterans among the international entrants – Kenyans Rueben Mosip and Simon Waithira – were among the lead pack that breezed through the downhill first mile in 4:21 and numbered nine as they made the turn up hill after the third mile.
“You can really read how people are breathing and feeling,” said Buchanan, a software engineer in Kansas City. “I knew nobody was feeling better than me. I felt pretty good about things.”
Things sorted themselves out, as usual, on Doomsday Hill. Buchanan and Amponsah inched away from Mwaura, and Mwaura from everyone else. But the Zag All-American – now living in Boston and representing the Boston Athletic Association – quickly fought back into contention.
“I had to make sure I didn’t lose them going up the hill – if they get away, it’s going to be hard to catch them,” Mwaura said. “I was trying to be conservative – I still had 5K left – but not too conservative.”
Amponsah – a five-time Division II champ at West Texas A&M – tried a move at 10 kilometers that was quickly quelled, but neither he nor Mwaura had an answer to Buchanan’s deciding jump.
“I didn’t trust myself on this downhill from what happened in 2022,” he said, “so I figured I needed at least like 40 feet to feel good about securing the victory.
“It’s amazing how much better winning feels.”
So how did he deal with the one that got away in 2022?
“You know, I had a few beers – how does anyone deal with their problems?” Buchanan said. “I moved on and kept training. You can never win the race if you don’t start and if I’d given up and never came back to Bloomsday, I’d never get a chance to win.
“I have to come back now.”
Mwaura is likely to join him, given his ties and this close call.
“I timed my kick a little too late,” he admitted. “I was feeling good, covering that move, and I had a little more than I thought I had for the last downhill.”
Mwaura, who grew up in Tacoma, ran the fastest Bloomsday (34:33) for a Washington athlete and former GU teammate and Lewis and Clark High School grad Wil Smith, who finished 11th in 35:36, now has the fastest time for a Spokane runner.
Parker ran eighth in her first Bloomsday a year ago, when Veronica Loleo burned a course-record 38:02. There would be no record this year, but Parker didn’t hesitate to use a similar hard-charging approach.
“I think someone was close at about 2, 2 1-2 miles but then they were fading because I couldn’t hear them anymore,” she said. “That kind of changed my perspective, that it might have to be a solo race.
“I just wanted to make sure I had enough gap when I started going up Doomsday.”
It was 46 seconds at that point, and Parker admitted she started wondering if she was still on the right course.
“I did feel better prepared because I’ve started doing some marathon training,” said Parker, who plans to run her first this December in Sacramento. “It’s been a huge help in preparing for these other races.”
The wheelchair races unfolded along similar lines to Parker’s victory. If anything, 25-year-old Valera “Jacob” Allen was more dominant, blowing away two-time defending champion Hermin Garic from the start and building a gap that reached 3 1-2 minutes by race’s end. The Ukrainian-born Allen, now based at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, finished in 28:52, with Garic second.
Babalola had a narrow two-second edge in her first Bloomsday victory in 2025, when she took a back-and-forth race with ParaSport Spokane’s Heather Sealover. But this time Sealover couldn’t recover from the Nigerian’s 38-second jump after two miles. Babalola’s winning time of 41:16 was 46 seconds slower than a year ago, but still a full 1:15 clear of the runner-up.
TOP FINISHERS
(Results unofficial until verified)
| MALE | ||||
| Place | Name | Home | Time | Award |
| 1 | Reid Buchanan | Kansas City, MO | 34:30 | 12000* |
| 2 | James Mwaura | Waltham, MA | 34:33 | 7000* |
| 3 | William Amponsah | Ghana | 34:35 | 3000 |
| 4 | Athanas Kioko | Kenya | 34:39 | 2500 |
| 5 | Owen Smith | Bozeman, MT | 34:51 | 3050* |
| 6 | Collin Kirami | Kenya | 35:07 | 1350 |
| 7 | Simon Waithira | Kenya | 35:17 | 1000 |
| 8 | Daniel Mesfun | Flagstaff, AZ | 35:25 | 1650* |
| 9 | Chandler Gibbens | Chicago, IL | 35:30 | 1200* |
| 10 | Andy Wacker | Boulder, CO | 35:35 | 600 |
| 11 | Wil Smith | Rochester Hills, MI | 35:36 | 500 |
| 12 | Jake Ritter | Portland, OR | 35:38 | 400 |
| 13 | Drew Kolodge | Clay, MI | 35:41 | 300 |
| 14 | Afe Zeru | Rochester Hills, MI | 36:15 | 250 |
| 15 | Miguel Bautista | Seattle, WA | 36:57 | 1200-w |
| 16 | CarLee Stimpfel | Rochester Hills, MI | 37:21 | |
| 17 | Andrew Kimpel | Spokane, WA | 37:52 | 750 -w |
| 18 | Kevin McDermott | Bellingham, WA | 38:03 | 500 -w |
| 19 | Carlos Villagomez | Woodinville, WA | 38:05 | 250 -w |
| 20 | James Dugenet | Spokane, WA | 38:16 | |
| 21 | Shadrack Keter | Kenya | 38:57 | |
| 22 | Jeremiah Mackie | Spokane, WA | 38:58 | |
| 23 | Mac Franks | Lake Forest Park, WA | 39:13 | |
| 24 | Cooper Laird | Spokane, WA | 39:21 | |
| 25 | Cruz Flores | Moscow, ID | 39:45 | |
| — | Brandon Benefield | Spokane, WA | 40:36 | 1500-m |
| — | Lewis Elliott | Billings, MT | 42:04 | 1000-m |
| — | Kiplimo Kimutai | Spokane Valley, WA | 43:04 | 500-m |
| *Includes U.S. citizen prize money | ||||
| w-Washington state resident | ||||
| m-Masters runner | ||||