Scott and I put on our running shoes before sunrise on a chilly morning in early April and got dropped off in downtown Charleston to board a bus that would take us across the river and to the starting corrals in Mount Pleasant to que up with 26,736 other excited runners for the 47th annual Cooper River Bridge 10k Run.
My training for the run started in January and I used the None2Run training app to prepare. I had used the app last year and felt reasonably prepared for the 2023 race (completed with a chip time of 1:08) and my goal for this year was to be under 1:07. The plan spanned 8 weeks, culminating in race day. I started early enough to account for any time off due to minor injury or sickness (I had a cold last year that knocked me out and caused me to miss almost a whole week of the prep). Thankfully I didn’t really have to miss any major runs and was actually able to repeat weeks 3, 5, and 6 which made me feel quite prepared this go-round.
We headed down to Charleston on Friday late morning and stopped at the Coliseum in North Charleston for the race expo and bib pickup. This race expo is often said to be one of the best in the US and rivals expos for major marathons such as Boston. They have lots of vendors offering various degrees of swag and free samples, drawings, prizes and promotions. The energy is infectious and although I don’t consider myself a super serious runner, it is fun to feel like part of a community, and, at that, one that I certainly wouldn’t have ever thought myself a part of until just a few years ago.
Bibs, race tee and bags collected, we then roamed around the expo. Scott ate about 14 Jonny Pops popsicles (I had one and forgot how much I don’t enjoy popsicles since I have sensitive teeth) and we collected more than our fair share of Liquid IV packets. (I love them for after my long runs, during the summer when I am out in the heat and humidity all day, and maybe for the occasional morning after a night of excessive fun and over-indulgence.) Part of my training plan was to abstain from alcohol for the week leading up to the race so it was hard to pass by the Tito’s booth and all the other various beer and wine vendors offering samples but I mustered up the self control. Part of your race entry includes a free drink at the Beer Garden at the expo and our drink tickets went unused. Yay us! 
My cousin Becky was once again generously hosting us and seems to be our de facto hostess for our adventures occurring in the South Carolina Lowcountry. It is always good to see her and catch up with her and hear about her adventures. We were greeted enthusiastically* by her dogs BooBoo and PJ when we arrived. (*Boo was genuinely happy to see us and PJ enthusiastically wanted to gnaw her way through our Achilles tendons one Chihuahua sized chomp at a time and then maybe move on to our throats, but she was enthusiastic none-the-less.) We went to a local Thai restaurant for an enjoyable dinner, but both Scott and I had them go easy on the spice level not wanting any spicy surprises on race day. 
Saturday morning Becky graciously got up early with us and drove us as close as she could get us into downtown Charleston near Marion Square where the shuttle buses were lined up taking people over the bridge into Mount Pleasant. (We queued up quite near Mother Emmanuel AME church and while standing in front of it I reflected on the unbelievable evil that had occurred there in 2015.) The sheer logistics of putting this race on are mind boggling- there were easily over one hundred school buses running bridge repeats (see what I did there?) to take people from Charleston to Mt P. Driving in the area on race day is tricky since a good chunk of the roads in downtown Charleston are closed off and the bridge closes from 7 am until 11 am, hence the buses. We aimed to arrive for a bus about 6:15, which was later than last year and the majority of other bus riders had the same idea so we didn’t board until nearly 7 am. It was chilly and we wished we would have remembered the mylar blankets my mom had scored for us at BinTime that I had totally forgotten about until I stood shivering in just my t-shirt. Scott added them to our race gear packing list thankfully so we will be prepared next year.
We arrived in Mt P with just enough time to walk past all the holding corrals and up to view the start (we were assigned corral D based on our estimated completion time and the corrals stretch nearly a mile and went all the way back to K I believe) and for one last potty stop where the lines for the banks of porta potties were purported via one of my Facebook running groups to be less crowded than the ones towards the back corrals and I think that was accurate. (Observation: I seem to talk about bathrooms a lot in this blog.)
With just a few minutes to spare, we slid into the front of our corral and listened to the announcer and DJ hype up the crowd to see off the competitive wave of elite runners who would be finished with the race before we even reached the summit of the Arthur Ravenel bridge (the winner this year was a 22 year old Ethiopian runner named Ali Abdilamana who ran a smoking 27:53, and the top female was 25 year old Kenyan runner Sarah Naibei with a time of 31:41. I should note that her 10k time is my 5k PR time…). It took us about 13 minutes to work our way up to the start line because there were that many people running and the majority of them were behind us! 
Finally we crossed the start, started our watches and apps, and away we went. I needed to hit 10:45 minute miles to make my goal time and was able to easily make that and actually had mostly negative splits for all 6 miles.
The first two miles in the residential area of Mt P are so crowded and you have to thread your way through the crowds- some people are already walking here so that is especially annoying and takes time and energy to dodge around them. Residents sit out on the curb watching and sometimes holding signs which is fun to see. It was around mile 1 that Scott told me I should run faster and I yelled at him and told him I had a plan for my race and to stop harassing me. This is usually how it goes when we race together but I love having him next(ish) to me (sometimes he goes rogue but then eventually looks around to see where I am and joins back up with me).
The 5.5% incline of the cable stayed bridge confronts you at mile 3 and I was especially happy with how I felt with that one- so much easier than last year where I had to walk for about 30 seconds. I was thankful for the 6-8% hill repeats I had logged on the treadmill the last few months as part of my training plan. Mile 4, the downhill on the bridge, was my fastest at 9:42. 
The last two miles feel the hardest because you’re tired and mentally are expecting to see the finish line around each city block you turn onto as you wind your way through downtown but they are the most inspiring too. So many spectators and businesses are there cheering you on with funny signs and enthusiastic cheers. My favorite is the bike spin gym that takes their spin bikes out in front and the spinners are cycling and cheering for everyone. I look for the dogs in attendance as a way to distract myself!
My last quarter mile was one of my fastest times, also at 9:42 and I finished at 1:04:45, a few minutes under my goal time of 1:07. I was not much fun to be around at the end as we wandered our way around the finish line Festival in Marion Square because I was tired, cold as soon as I cooled down, and I needed a porta potty (again with the porta potties, Janna?). We mosied around for a bit, metals proudly around our necks, then worked our way out of the melee of the festival to find a rendezvous spot for Becky to collect us. Thanks to Google maps she was able to easily connect with us despite all the road closures and took us back home where we showered, snacked, and then took a little nap.
We lounged around the rest of the day, snacked on some of the junk food and beer I had bought for the occasion, and dodged attacks from PJ who is always scanning the room for a bare and unattended ankle to chomp. Becky took us to Frothy Beard again for pizza (and beer for me) and we devoured it. I think we were in bed by 8 that night.
Sunday morning we said our goodbyes and Scott and I went to check out Isle of Palms. As we drove over the bridge it was fun to revel in our accomplishment from the day before and despite a very tired and sore body I was elated with how I had run and how I felt while doing it. It was nice taking a leisurely barefoot walk on the cool wet sand and seeing the Bridge in the distance. We were treated to a dolphin show and hung out and watched them feeding for a few minutes before heading back to the car. We drove through Sullivan’s Island to check it out and then went to Shem Creek for an early lunch, stopping at a restaurant we enjoy, Red’s Ice House. Full, tired, a little sore, but very content, we drove back home to Greenville, already thinking about the 2025 Bridge Run.
