Cooper River Bridge Run

The Cooper River Bridge Run is an annual 10-kilometer (6.2 mi) one-way road running event across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge held in the cities of Mount Pleasant and Charleston in South Carolina, on the first Saturday in April. The Bridge Run is the only competition in South Carolina sanctioned by USA Track and Field as an elite event. Based on number of race finishers, the event is the third largest 10K and the fifth largest road race in the United States.

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.

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