A tradition: Tell me about your Bridge Run

For those who have run the Cooper River Bridge Run, past and present, the years come and go.

Factors such as wind, rain, heat, personal fitness and age change with each race. We may remember last year's race, or maybe our first or best race, but as to how the 1999 race compares to this year's, you'd have to have a great memory or be a self-obsessed diary keeper.

One avid bridge runner, though, has kept slices of Bridge Runs past alive in a low-key way.

Since the 1980s, Cedric Jaggers randomly asks 40 or 50 members of the Charleston Running Club one question — "Tell me about your Bridge Run" — immediately after the race. He scribbles down two or three sentences, verbatim, publishes the short answers and finish times in the following club newsletter, and archives the information for posterity.

It's a minor tradition, but one that is unique for club members.

"It started one year when the awards ceremony was taking too long," said Jaggers. "So to pass the time, I took out a pad and started asking people to tell me about your bridge run."

That's just of bit of what Jaggers, 60, now of Rock Hill, does as the volunteer Bridge Run historian.

He keeps track of each race and nearly any statistic you can think of. He's kept application forms, T-shirts and posters from every Bridge Run. His knowledge of the event is unparalleled. His latest gift to the Bridge Run was presenting DVDs of every televised race to the event's executive committee on Friday.

Asking people about their Bridge Run, however, gives him dozens of personal perspectives each year, such as this one by Gary Ricker on Saturday: "It's my 25th one and my worst time. I'm just happy to be here and do it. It was too hot."

This year, the weather — as we all know by now — was warm and windy, but Jaggers also found out something that surprised him. Many mentioned using the strategy of drafting behind other runners to avoid being slowed down too much.

Sometimes the answer unveils a new twist or a kink in the race. One minor gaffe involved volunteers in one corral failing to drop the rope holding them back until after the gun went off.

Some answers offer up important information in their life, such as on Saturday when Donna Lea Brown responded: "I did wonderful considering I got hit by a truck on Easter Sunday." Jaggers added, "She really did get hit by a truck on Easter Sunday."

Jaggers, who has run 30 of the 31 Bridge Runs, lamented getting only 28 responses this year. He blamed himself, admitting even he is running slower these days.

"A lot of people were gone before I could ask them about their Bridge Run," he said, adding, "I enjoy doing this. I get to meet new people and old friends."