Lining up for race day at 90+

Ginny Warden Born Sept of 1919

May 2006: Ginny Warden, the oldest of 124 perennials who have participated in all 30 Bloomsdays, had announced Bloomsday 2006 would be her last. But after walking the course in less than 2 ½ hours, the 86-year-old South Hill resident has taken a never-say-never approach to 2007. Quoted from the Spokesman-Review

Ginny Warden holding her Bloomsday ribbon from 1977, colorful Bloomsday posters lining the walls.

Fast forward to winter of 2010 I am chatting with Ginny over coffee and cookies in her airy apartment, high on a hill overlooking Spokane, WA. She is shaking her head, explaining that every year she decides this will be her last Bloomsday but every year the registration form shows up and she doesn’t know what else to do but fill it out and send it in.

Bloomsday is a 12k run, for many years the largest timed race in the country; now it shares top billing with Atlanta GA’s 10k Peach Tree and Boulder CO’s 10k Bolder Boulder. This year she finished it, again, for the 34th time, in 2:35.

Ginny running Bloomsday in 1985

Ginny is a Perennial Bloomie, one of the original 1200 runners from the first running of Bloomsday in 1977.  Bloomsday has been a constant thread through her life, defining and marking the years. She is proud that Spokane promotes a race that celebrates fitness and proud that she has been a part of it.

Like many women of her generation, she did not grow up with a notion of competitive sports for girls or an awareness of the value of exercise and physical fitness. Ginny began exercising when she was 52, after her children were grown. Running was something she could just do, without training.

Her husband knew Don Kardong, the founder of Bloomsday. Ginny relates, “I was asked if I would like to try. I said, well, I’ll try, but don’t tell a soul because I’m sure I’ll quit in a few miles,” Ginny goes on, “the course was longer then you know, 8 miles.” But she finished it that year and every year afterwards. “The last 20 years I’ve walked it. I’ve always had a good time.”

She tells me that as has gotten older she has naturally slowed down. She complained that while she sees her doctor for monthly checkups he doesn’t spend any time talking with her. I suspect there is not much to say when your patient is in excellent health.

Ginny's T-shirt from the Bare Buns Fun Run, 1987

We head downstairs to look at her Bloomsday posters and box of race medals. On the stairwell a large wall holds tribute to a well-lived life with framed photographs of her extended family. Ginny’s step is light, her movements quick and agile; I can’t believe a woman over 90 walks as fast as I do!

As she pulls out her medals, her eyes suddenly sparkle as she asks if I want to see her Bare Buns Fun Run T-shirt and medal. Laughing I ask if she actually ran that, her voice drops,  “Yes. Twice. I wore clothes. But not much!”

Ginny is leading a vital and purposeful life. She can do this because she is fit. Three times a week she exercises at the Spokane Club, once a week she takes Tai Chi. Her diet is sensible and nutritious. Her mind is kept active with bridge and reading. She exhorts women to run, if they can’t run, then walk – just move. “It makes a difference.”
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Read about other Perennial Bloomies! 73 yo Sylvia Quinn – 59 yo Kris Olson-Wood