When Maury Ray laced up his sneakers for the inaugural Bloomsday road race in 1977, he never considered that he and Bloomsday would celebrate 50 years together.

Ray jokes about living up to the expectation from his family and friends – and himself – to keep his streak alive. Now 85, Ray is determined to keep going as long as he can.

“I didn’t know I was going to go 50 years,” he said. “Sometimes I wish I had missed the second one so there wouldn’t be so much pressure to keep going.”

Ray was not a runner until he was recruited to join a group of coaches at Spokane Community College, where he worked, to run at noon every day.

“They got me going,” said Ray, who would go on to retire from Spokane Falls Community College in 2008 after decades as the athletic director.

The group of coaches

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