'I always ran well there': Former Bloomsday champ Jon Sinclair returns to celebrate 50th race

May 2-In his 15-year professional racing career, Bloomsday was Jon Sinclair's favorite race.

Sinclair, who lives in Lafayette, Colorado, captured the men's elite race championship in 1983 and 1986. He was a runner-up in 1981 and 1982.

He knows a thing or two about how to run the 7.46-mile course that begins in downtown on Riverside Avenue, meanders west and up toward Spokane Community College near Doomsday Hill, down a 1-mile stretch on Broadway Avenue, before finishing on the north end of Monroe Street bridge.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Sinclair enjoyed hilly courses - especially considering that his top adventure these days is rock climbing.

Sinclair, who will turn 69 years old in September, doesn't run much these days. He'll go out for a 2- or 3-mile run every other day, but climbs rocks three to four times a week year round.

"I don't have any cartilage underneath my kneecaps anymore," Sinclair said in a phone interview. "So it starts to become problematic if I run more than 2 or 3 miles. I have about 120,000 miles on my legs. I ran the numbers one time out of mental curiosity. If you figure that my stride length was say 31/2 feet, my feet hit the ground more than nine million times. It speaks to the human body to be able to withstand that kind of thing."

He is among several Bloomsday legends that have been invited back for the celebration of the 50th running of the event Sunday. His wife, former elite winner Kim Jones, plans to run the race ceremoniously, but Sinclair will likely just mingle in the crowd.

Sinclair and Jones' final competitive Bloomsday races came in 2003. They married three months later and will celebrate their 23rd anniversary in August.

"I've been really fortunate because most of the people I've run against aren't running at all anymore," Sinclair said. "They've had knee replacements or whatever. I still have all the original equipment."

Rock climbing doesn't tax his body like running does. But it's just as exhilarating to Sinclair.

"For people that climb, they see it. For people that don't climb, they can't understand it at all," Sinclair said. "It's really challenging in a way that running isn't."

Sinclair made a living off conquering hilly courses, though. It served him well at Bloomsday, which features rises along Cemetery Hill and Doomsday Hill that are known to render runners to a walk.

"Doomsday Hill is the toughest part of the race for everybody. But it favored me," Sinclair explained. "I was always better at 10,000 meters up to the half marathon. That was always the kind of racing I looked for. And the more hills the better."

The lone part of the race that didn't fit Sinclair well was the 1-mile stretch on Broadway Avenue before the finish.

"That was always the most challenging for me because there was nothing there that I could take advantage of to break up the course," Sinclair said. "It was just a long drag. That's always when you're most tired and you're trying to drive the pace and trying to find a competitive advantage. The faster guys would just sit and wait for the last part of the race. But for me that was the most worrisome."

So Sinclair developed a strategy of attacking Doomsday Hill and holding on until the finish.

"I discovered the secret," Sinclair said. "I won it the same way twice. I started to sprint just toward the finish. People didn't expect anyone to start sprinting with a mile and a half to go. But I'd sprint as hard as I could before that downhill finish (after turning onto Monroe Street). That paid off for me."

Bloomsday founder Don Kardong told Sinclair he has the fastest last half mile in course history that's ever been timed.

"I ran like 1:58 (1 minute, 58 seconds) the last 800 meters in 1986," Sinclair said.

His third-best finish was his first Bloomsday in 1982 when he finished runner-up to Henry Rono in a time of 35 minutes, 53 seconds.

Sinclair won in a time of 34:55 the following year and 34:25 in 1986.

His best finish after his two victories was fourth in 1988. He ran 19 times at Bloomsday.

Sinclair is looking forward to the 50th and a chance to reminisce about the good old days.

The elite runners in Sunday's field would be wise to talk with Sinclair. He would have some wisdom to share for sure.

"I really always loved going there in May," Sinclair said. "It was a great course for me and I loved the town. I really can't put my finger on exactly why, but I always had a good feeling about being there. I always ran well there."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 7:11 PM.