Tobacco-Free Bloomsday

As a health and fitness event, Bloomsday has always tacitly discouraged the use of tobacco products. Of course most runners don't need urging. Inhaling smoke works against cardiovascular fitness, and even those few people who smoke when they start a running program almost always quit. Running and smoking just don't go together.

Bloomsday, though, includes thousands of walkers and approximately 25,000 spectators, and smoking by members of these groups is more common. In addition, secondhand smoke which contains more than 40 known carcinogens can have devastating effects on non-smokers.

Bloomsday also includes nearly 10,000 entrants age 18 and under, and studies have shown that providing young people with a positive environment, free from tobacco use, will greatly reduce the prevalence of youth smoking.

To set a positive example and to underscore the importance of a smoke-free environment to good health, Bloomsday has asked to be officially designated as a tobacco-free event again this year. We hope to provide a totally smoke-free environment, and we ask entrants, family & friends, and spectators to support this effort during Bloomsday weekend activities and along the race course.

For more information on tobacco prevention and control, as well as about other programs and services to help protect and improve your health, visit the Spokane Regional Health District web site.