First-timers, old salts come together for race

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Running in the race for the nineteenth time this year, David Quick picks up his race packet and checks out the Expo down at the at the Gaillard Auditorium Watch »

It brings together the Greater Charleston community like no other single event.

From the top runners to the most casual walkers, young and old of all economic backgrounds, from those who have done all 30 previous events to those who are doing it for the first time, the Cooper River Bridge Run and Walk is the common denominator.

We come together on the first Saturday in April (unless it's Easter weekend, then it's the last Saturday in March), spend about three hours together — from lining up at portable toilets at 7 a.m. to munching on freebies at 10 a.m. — and then we scatter. Even those who don't do it marvel at the spectacle and ask, "How'd your Bridge Run go?"

The Bridge Run is a celebration of life, spring and the place we live.

Despite the fact that we have been able to run, walk and bike on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge 24/7 since July 2005, it apparently hasn't made the race any less popular. After a record-breaking year in 2006 for the first run on the Ravenel and an expected drop last year, registration numbers are trending back up this year.

As always, registration and participation will depend on the weather. Officials say walkers, in particular, tend to wait for forecasts before signing up.

Sarah Bates
The Post and Courier/File

Runners line up for the start of the 2007 Bridge Run.

Regardless of the forecast, about 35,400 had signed up as of noon Wednesday.

More control

Dealing with those kinds of numbers has forced the Bridge Run into trying to control the flow of the race better.

One effort that began last year, corralling runners according to expected finish times, worked to a degree but will be fine-tuned this year. (See the updated map of the starting-line corrals.)

"Last year, the first four corrals worked perfectly," says Bridge Run Director Julian Smith. "It was beyond that point that didn't work so well."

As part of the effort to do better, the Bridge Run has hired National Construction Rentals to help install additional cyclone fencing at the front end of the starting line and at the finish line. The Bridge Run also purchased an additional 2,500 feet of fencing. In all, the amount of fencing will increase from 2,500 feet last year to 8,000 this year.

Smith says an extra effort will be made to train team leaders of the volunteers, supplied by charities in the Bridge Run Charity Connection program, to provide more detailed instruction on how participants should be corralled.

Run and give

Meanwhile, running and walking in the name of charity are becoming a bigger part of the Bridge Run.

Charity Connection (see related story), another initiative started last year, seems to be getting some traction this year, even though the Bridge Run's Web site doesn't promote it well enough.

Last year, the program brought in $19,700 for five charities. This year, it's already surpassed $20,000, and at Friday's press conference, corporate donors are expected to announce significant gifts to the Lowcountry Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the Exchange Club's Lowcountry Center for Prevention of Child Abuse.

Independent charity efforts, the Banana Bridge Run for the Hollings Cancer Center and the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, also will be a presence at this year's race.

Ditch headphones (please)

Some runners and walkers may be wondering how the Bridge Run will address one controversial subject from the past year: wearing headphones.

The governing body of road racing, USA Track & Field, bans the use of headphones for safety and liability reasons. Some races take the ban very seriously. At last year's Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., officials collected all visible MP3 players at the start (mailing them back to owners afterward) and disqualified about 30 runners who ignored the ban.

While the Bridge Run's online waiver mentions nothing about headphones, the printed application form does. It says, "I also consent to my removal in the event that I violate the prohibition of headphones/earphones, strollers, bikes, skates and other wheeled devices."

Smith says that the Bridge Run has no way of policing 40,000 people for headphones. "It's like Baby Joggers. We tell people not to use them, and they still slip in there. ... All we can say is, 'Don't do it.' "

Shoot for bandits

While the Bridge Run won't be on the lookout for headphones, they will be for "bandits": people who run the race without paying their $25-$30 to register.

"We'll have a team of people monitoring the course," says Smith, adding that a "bandit chute" again will be placed at King and Calhoun streets.

So if you do pay, remember to wear your race bib on the front of your shirt or shorts.

Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or dquick@postandcourier.com.