Cooper River Bridge Run
The Bridge Run is the only competition in South Carolina sanctioned by USA Track and Field as an elite event.
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.
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.
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.
In 1983, the Grace Bridge run added a second uphill climb on the Crosstown Overpass connecting the Grace Bridge to US Highway 17 and Interstate 26, and the race finished in front of the United States Federal Building in Marion Square at Meeting Street.
With the number of entrants exceeding 2,000, the start moved from Patriots Point in 1984 to SC Highway 703 (Coleman Boulevard) at Shem Creek.
Road construction near Market Street in Charleston forced a slight rerouting in 1986, when the Bridge Run was moved to its present date in April unless Easter fell on that weekend.
In 2000, the Bridge Run course went through a complete overhaul with the start further back on SC 703 near the shopping center, giving runners a 3,000 meter run on SC 703 before joining the walkers at the foot of the first span of the Pearman, then crossing the Crosstown Overpass, King Street, Calhoun Street, and finishing at Alexander.
The start line was slightly moved but remains near the shopping center, and proceeds on SC 703 for 3,000 meters before approaching the northbound exit ramp to SC 703 (run southbound, towards Charleston, the opposite direction of normal vehicular traffic), with the runners proceeding on the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge southbound on the four northbound lanes (the four southbound lanes on the bridge are not used; furthermore, the bike-pedestrian lane (which is aligned with the northbound lanes, but just off to East Bay Street and is not part of the course) is reserved for use by emergency staff) for 3,200 meters before exiting the bridge using the two-lane Meeting Street entrance ramp (runners are running the opposite direction of normal vehicular traffic), turning left on Meeting for 2,000 meters before, making a right at the Visitor's Center at John Street, then a quick left at King Street, before turning left at Wentworth Street, before a final run up Meeting Street the other direction before the finish line.
Two potential forms of cheating near the finish were dealt with using fencing at Marion Square at King Street (the finish festival site), and a sponsor parking a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Meeting and John to force runners to make the turn back to King.
Benji Durden, whose opportunity to make the Olympic team was denied by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, won the first run.
The race has featured top level international competitors, including Olympic medalists Grete Waitz, Catherine Ndereba, and Elana Meyer.
Television personality Oprah Winfrey, running under a pseudonym, finished the 1994 race (3,839th with a time of 55:48 min).
Actor Bill Murray fired the cannon for the 1997 Bridge Run and ran the event.
In 2011, then-NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Aric Almirola, his wife Janice, and two members of the JR Motorsports #88 team from the 2011 season participated during an off-week in that series, and former state Governor Mark Sanford and two of his children also participated.
In 2012, Zeddie Little became an internet meme known as the "ridiculously photogenic guy" after having a photo of him taken by Will King while running the race.
