Spokane man won’t let heart surgeries stop his Bloomsday streak

SPOKANE, Wash. — The countdown to Bloomsday is on. We are only four days from Spokane’s iconic annual 12K race.

Every year, thousands of people flood the streets of downtown to cross the finish line. Each runner has a story—Craig Gerlack isn’t letting multiple heart surgeries keep him from crossing it again this year.

“It’s my passion, Bloomsday is my passion,” said Gerlack.

Gerlack has only missed one Bloomsday since the race began—and it wasn’t his call. In 1977, his high school track coach took it off the table. The next year, Craig got the go-ahead and he’s been crossing the finish line ever since.

“Everything just involves mindset. And I guess I’m strong-willed on some things, and Bloomsday is one of them,” he said.

It hasn’t been without challenges. When he was just 37 years old, Gerlack had his first heart surgery. The doctor asked him what his goals for recovery were. He said to get back to work and to finish Bloomsday.

“Bloomsday is an incentive to get better. It’s a reason to come to rehab, and then when I don’t come to rehab, walk,” Gerlack said.

Since then, Craig’s had two more heart surgeries—but he’s also added multiple Bloomsday shirts to his collection. He’s been regaining his strength and his spark at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute.

“Bloomsday is right around the corner, and he’s just made vast, vast improvements. His vitals look good. He’s excited, he’s confident, said Lesley Hackett, an exercise physiologist at St. Luke’s.

That confidence comes from knowing he’s doing his family proud. Craig’s mom continued to cross the finish line until she was 85 years old.

“She never said no. She fought breast cancer; she did 6 weeks of radiation. The third week she walked Bloomsday, that Monday she went back and did three more days of radiation,” Gerlack said.

Craig’s most recent heart surgery was just in February. But like his mom, he’s not letting anything stop him.

“It’s been hard at times but, I just. Once I get to little goals like getting to the top of Cemetery Hill. Once I get to the top of that I’m pretty happy.”