Fairchild volunteers kick off Bloomsday Run Published May 8, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Kali L. Gradishar 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Wearing the designated volunteer T-shirts and warm layers to ward off the chill of the morning, hundreds of volunteers funneled into the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza early Sunday morning. Inside the plaza, the volunteers were organized into groups and given duties to ensure the 31st Lilac Bloomsday Run was a smooth-running event. A large portion of those volunteers, nearly 150 of them, were Airmen from Fairchild supporting the local community which they have adopted as a temporary home. "There were people who kept telling us how much they appreciated us being there," said Emily Huttinger, 92nd Medical Support Squadron, who coordinated the volunteering opportunity for Fairchild with Mr. Jones. "We were the glue that put things together at the start line." Tom Jones, the start-line co-director, introduced each group of volunteers, noting that the group from Fairchild was the largest, and thanked the group for the greatest turnout of volunteers ever. "It's nice to have interested people who are eager to volunteer for this," said Mr. Jones. "I would have hated to do this without the people from Fairchild. We needed a lot of volunteers at the start line." Since the race began in 1977, the race has evolved and become so popular that runners from around the world participate and people flock to volunteer in the annual, non-profit event. This year, approximately 50,000 runners entered the race and over 40,000 of them finished. There were supporters, spectators, and volunteers at the start of the race. Along the raceway there were numerous performances for entertainment. There were also volunteers posted at various locations throughout the 12 kilometer route to hand out water to thirsty race runners. "It seemed as though everyone there had great attitudes," said Ms. Huttinger of the volunteers who were tasked to hold signs and ropes, put up fencing on the race course and Overall, there were masses of people involved in the success of the Bloomsday run and Fairchild volunteers made their impact from the start of the race.
