Cooper River Bridge Run - History

History

In the mid-1970s, Medical University of South Carolina employee Dr. Marcus Newberry had visited his Ohio hometown and noticed Bonne Bell had built a running track around their offices to encourage employees' physical fitness. Dr. Newberry wanted a way to encourage fitness in the Charleston Metropolitan region, and believed the best way was to feature an event running through the bridges crossing the Cooper River. The event organisers featured officials from the Charleston Running Club, The Citadel, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the College of Charleston.

South Carolina state senator Dewey Wise introduced legislation to permit the event to be held over the reversible lane on the three-lane Silas Pearman Bridge.

On April 2, 1978, the initial race began from Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant to the White Point Gardens in Charleston's Battery region. Police shortened the initial event to 9,850 meters after the gun had sounded to start the initial Bridge Run. Officials expected 500 runners for the event (with 340 pre-registered), but on race day an additional 600 to 700 runners registered. 766 runners finished. Many dropped out of the race and some were hospitalized for effects from the heat, as there were no water stops on the course. In the tradition of historic Charleston's Civil War and Revolutionary War heritage, a cannon is fired to start the event. The first Kenyan runners to participate were a pair of Baptist College teammates in 1978. Runners from that country have dominated the run since 1993.

Following complaints from heat exhaustion and also from area churches (While Charleston County has some Blue Laws exceptions in Charleston County in deference to the Jewish community, churches on the course complained about the Bridge Run taking place while church services took place), the 1979 event was moved to the Saturday in March, where it would be held until 1985. One water stop at the terminus of the bridge was added. (Four water stops were on the 2005 course.) The finish line moved to the campus of the College of Charleston. Over 1,350 were entered, with over 1,000 finishing. The 1979 event, the first at 10,000 meters, was the first South Carolina running event with over 1,000 participants. The 1980 finish ended in a tie.

Two consecutive Bridge Runs (1986 and 1987) were marred by illegal runners. In 1986, between 300 and 500 runners did not make the start, which had been delayed 30 minutes because of a vehicular collision on the Pearman Bridge (the only access to the start line) between two shuttle buses carrying runners to the start and an automobile 70 minutes before the scheduled start. They ran down the Pearman, through the cut between the two bridges, and started their run midway through the course, on the Grace.

In 1987, with unusually cold temperatures (start temperature was 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4c) with wind gusts from 20-35 MPH (32–55 km/h), runners kept their warmups instead of displaying their bibs. Officials estimated about 10% of the nearly 7,000 runners who crossed the finish lines were illegal, or "bandit", runners. The bandits were allowed to cross the finish line because officials could not distinguish who was legitimate and who was not.

In 1989, elite runners were warming up ahead of the start line on SC 703 when the cannon fired. Grete Waitz's record time was disallowed, but she was allowed to keep the win, when she was caught ahead of the start line at the cannon.

The 1995 event was the first time over 10,000 runners participated, and women made up over 3,000 of the runners, the first time in North or South Carolina where over 3,000 women finished in a running event.

Transponder timing was instituted in 1997. The 2005-2008 races featured a permanent transponder which the runner could keep was implemented. A D-Tag timing system was used from 2009–10, and from 2011, transponder tags were affixed to competitors' bibs.

The total Bridge Run and Walk participants in 2004 was 29,930. Females accounted for 45.1% of finishers.

In 2012, logistical problems (only one shuttle bus entry point) led to over 10,000 runners being stuck on the shuttle buses on the Ravenel's northbound lanes (which the course uses) where officials could not close the bridge until 7:45 AM, 15 minutes before the scheduled start. The wheelchair race started at 8:19 AM, but a mechanical failure and an attempt to clear the disabled athlete forced the elite runners to wait until 8:58 AM for the start.

The last run on the Pearman in 2005 had a 42,000 runner and walker cap (25,000 runners, 17,000 walkers) for 2005, but many did not appear because of inclement weather which marred the start. The current limit is 44,000. The 2012 race featured 36,652 finishers, women dominated with 59.45% (21,789 F vs 14,917 M) of runners.