This year marked year six of participating in the annual Cooper River Bridge Run. The run carries you from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina over the beautiful Cooper River Bridge into downtown Charleston, South Carolina. I remember hearing about this run for years as I was growing up in Charleston and watching portions of it on television. It always looked exciting! Of course back then it went over the "newer" of the two older Cooper River Bridges. Nevertheless I thought it would be fun to participate, but the size of the crowd was very intimidating especially when they revealed how many finished, and after awhile it became a faded interest. That is until 2010, when my sister and her team at work signed up to participate and she invited me to take part with them. It was just like I thought it would be, absolutely invigorating and a whole lot of fun! Of course this invitation would open up the possibilities of running that has shifted me into the season I am in now! Amazing the difference one invitation in the right season can make!
A picture taken the Saturday before the run as I "practiced" with my family
Back to 2015, this year my goal was to run the entire race and finish it within 1 hour. One of my coworkers shared that people who finished by at least 1hr and about 25 minutes were the ones who made the paper the Sunday after the race. So my new goal was to finish in an hour, or at least make the paper. In previous years I walked the majority of the 10K with a few spirts of running in between, this time I wanted a full blown run through of the course. If you are new to this race, walking it for the first time is amazing! You get to enjoy the bands on the route and the scenery, especially as you pass over the bridge. The structure and span of the bridge is absolutely awesome! Mine you I am a native here and it still takes me breath away! Needless to say this year I was ready to go full throttle and get it done, or as the term that is commonly used says "Get over it!".
When I registered I registered as someone who wanted to finish in an hour or less. I was in no way putting myself down in the 45 minute category because I knew that that would be a bit pretentious for me to accomplish! I signed up in January with the race taking place at the end of March and by January I had ran much more miles than every before, I still hadn't been consistent in my running. I was determined to be consistent from January to race day in March. Did I mention I was also preparing for a half-marathon in April? Well I was and still am...
The amount of runs are not so impressive, consistency is still an issue...
I went to the Bridge Run Expo and picked up my bib and race packet the Thursday before the run. The Expo is now held at the Performing Arts Center in North Charleston and I am very grateful of this change because it used to be held in downtown Charleston my first two years racing. The venue change was highly appreciated for one reason and one reason alone, PARKING! I am all about car security, I have watched too many episodes of "Parking Wars" to not have an appreciation of abundant, available spaces to park. My car gets me through and "to" too much for me to leave it in a compromising position! But I digress from my parking praise-a-looza!
Race day packet
I had my favorite meal for dinner Friday night, spaghetti, and lots of it! I absolutely love carbs! Bread, pasta, bread, rice, bread... I think you get the picture. So any excuse to eat lots of it, like a rough day, a Friday, a Monday, a race day, brings me joy. My sister and a friend of hers were also going to be participating this year, so I knew that I would probably go back to their area which was in corral "J" (walkers) even though I signed up and was placed in corral "F"(runners over an hour). Comradery and nerves, you know not wanting to get run over by the more "serious" runners, were at work within me.
Saturday morning we met at the Performing Arts Center in North Charleston to take the bus to the starting line in Mt. Pleasant around 5:15(ish)am. It would mean a longer time waiting at the start, but we would be in position and ready to go without lines. We rode straight in, parked, and walked straight onto a bus that was loading. I absolutely love that!
Now it was rather chilly that morning around 30 degrees. I was hoping for a little warmer start since we would be waiting over 3 hrs to begin! What am I saying, in South Carolina 30 is not chilly, it's cold! After getting into Mt. Pleasant and walking to corral "J" we were ready to wait for volunteers to get to the areas before we were allowed to go into them. We stayed in the front of our corral. There were officers out performing visual and bag checks as we made our way to the corrals. On that note, a huge thank you to the officers, volunteers, and race organizers who made this event run safe and smoothly! Kudos once again!
After waiting for hours as we talked and laughed amongst ourselves and with other racers, we finally prepared for the start! I was tempted to go to section "F" but I didn't. You are allowed to move back corrals, but not forward. So since I couldn't take my sister and her friend with me, I stayed with them. The race moved with staggered starts from the elites to corral K, inching each new group up to the starting line. It is amazing how many participants there are each year and the fact that the winner is already proclaimed before half the corrals have started the race!
Parachuters with the American flag as the National Anthem was played
We finally made our way to the starting line and it was our turn to be off. I started with a slow jog which was not hard to keep the pace of because of the number of people in the path. Less than a mile in the crowd began to fall back into a walk and I was able to keep my pace as I dipped around walkers. I was able to hold my pace up onto the bridge until I hit the start of the incline. I had a jacket on that was now becoming hot and my thighs were screaming "What are you doing?". I slowed down to a walk, took off my jacket and secured it around my hips and continued my climb. As I approached the top of the incline, I began with a light jog once again and enjoyed the descension that would lead into the city of Charleston! So thankful that what goes up, must come down!
I was able to hold onto that pace as I descended the bridge into the city. I kept my eyes on the nearest runners and followed through holes they opened up in the crowd of walkers, sightseers, and picture takers. As I'm dipping in and out I am really regretting that I didn't go to corral "F" and run with the group of runners. But I enjoyed seeing the amount of kids out and the varying ages of participants.
As I approached the mark nearing the sixth mile, one of my neice's favorite songs, "Turn Down for What", started to pump out of some speakers from a radio station set up near by; I don't run with music, basically because I can't find earbbuds that are comfortable and I like to reflect and pray as I am running, but that beat dropping gave me a little more lift as I picked up the speed ever so slightly to get to the street that would lead me to the finish line. Once I rounded the final corner I was ready to go full throttle! I actually felt a burst of energy coming to my legs, then had to slow it down a little more when one of the lanes leading into the finish had a runner who was down and paramedics around the person. I passed never seeing the person, but praying they would be okay.
All in all I finished with the official time of 1:16. I didn't meet my 1:00 goal, but I did make the Sunday paper! I know it was that incline that killed my first goal, along with the lack of consistent running during training. The time cut off for the women's results was 1:23, so I did make my second goal.
I Made It!!
Number 8,546 out of 27,318 finishers; not bad at all!
All in all I enjoyed the Bridge Run for another year. Once my sister and her friend came in, we filled up on fruits and water and then headed back to the buses for our ride back into North Charleston. The sentiment on the bus was harmonious, we were all exhausted and ready for a nap! All you heard was the humming of tthe school bus as we all traveled up the road back to our vehicles.
I did not run with wings this race, because last year I realized that it was nearly impossible to keep them in tact! But I still carried a message by wearing my #miles4change tshirt, calling for us to fight to end human trafficking. I also wore my brand new New York Giants running tights that matched my Saucony Triumph ISO's pefectly. I always fancied myself an Asics girl, but these shoes were absolutely amazing!
Wearing my Saucony Triumph ISOs and my compression socks from Pro Compression was like running on clouds!
Now it's time to extend the miles and go a distance never raced before, 13.1 here I come!!!
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