SPOKANE, Wash. – The fastest Bloomsday runners can complete the entire 7.46-mile race in just over 30 minutes. But what about the slowest walkers? In 2023, the last person to finish took over 5 hours to cross the finish line. His name is Dwayne Love.
By the time Love had gotten to the finish line, it was after 3 p.m., and crews were packing up the fences along the streets. Thousands of fellow Bloomsday runners were likely already back at home, but Dwayne has absolutely no quit in his blood.
He was 76 years old at the time, and even though he had lived in Spokane his entire life, this was his first Bloomsday.
Love has always had a passion for exercise and competition, but over the years, something always got in the way of him joining in on the run.
Love has eight kids who kept him busy. He was often working two or more jobs at a time, and he survived throat cancer and all the health complications that came with it while some of his kids were still in the house.
Thankfully, Love’s daughter volunteered to walk Bloomsday with him when he finally committed to the race for the first time. Even she was impressed by Dwayne’s resilience towards the end of the race when he refused to get a ride to the finish.
“They came around the last time and said, ‘Hey, this is your last chance, do you want to get on?’ We had almost gotten up Doomsday, and dad said no, I’m doing this,” said Libby Hippauf, Love’s daughter. “Then the Paratransit left, and we were on our own.”
But finishing Bloomsday was just the beginning of Love’s story. He was proud to put on his first Bloomsday shirt and excited to walk it again this year until he was diagnosed with oral cancer back in January.
In February, he had a 10-hour surgery where doctors removed about 75% of his tongue and replaced it with muscle tissue from his leg and arm, and veins from his arm and neck.
Love was in the hospital for 17 days and did therapy for a month after that. What got him through it all was his passion to participate in Bloomsday. His first words to his daughter after he got out of surgery were about his determination to run Bloomsday.
Now Love is asking for the public’s help. He has been regaining his strength for two months as he recovers from that surgery. Love already has access to a standard wheelchair, but he needs one that can handle the bumps of the road so his daughter can push him through Bloomsday. He is also hoping for one with hand brakes so that she can stop him if they go too fast.
If you know where he can find one, text the information to 509-993-5244.
