Bloomsday

Distance: 12k
http://www.bloomsday.org/
Probably the biggest race in the pacific northwest. Since I grew up in Washington, I've been hearing legends about the difficulty of Doomsday Hill... and when I first ran it (in 2006) ended up almost disappointed with how easy it was. Which is not to say the course, or Doomsday Hill, is easy. It is a tough, hilly course for a road race. But the LEGEND of Bloomsday's difficulty was created by the majority of participants who train to do just this one race every year. Any runner who has trained to race a 12k should have no problems. I enjoyed it immensely and have been particularly impressed with how good natured all the volunteers and participants seem to be. Even though they use chip timing, if you are hoping to put in a fast time, try to get into the second seed. Things are just far less chaotic at the start and finish. Even from the first box of the general starters, there are so many people to weave around that it's hard to do more than 7 min/mile for the first 2 miles. Second seed has gotten more difficult to get into, so you will need to 1) register on-line with a qualifying time from a past Bloomsday 2) mail a qualifying time from another race to the Bloomsday folks in advance or 3) cross your fingers and get to the check-in as early as possible on Friday. Start is cold and there are no drop bags, so wear old clothes, hang them on the trees in the start and they will be collected and given to thrift stores. Lots of food booths in the finish area so I recommend bringing a little money so you can hang out in the park and have some lunch after the race.