Cooper River Bridge Run Race Recap

Back in early April, I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina with my friend Brick and her husband G to take part in a race in a new state and a bucket list race for Brick and I - the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K. This race is the 3rd largest 10K in the world (with the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta being #1... we Googled it.) There are about 44,000 people that run every year and we have heard lots of good things about the experience.

We had made plans to run this race and signed up back in the fall, but then life happened and we put together our trip somewhat last minute. Things have a way of working out though and despite not a ton of research going into our planning, it ended up working out perfectly. The race took on a lot of different meanings and motivations throughout the months from when we signed up to when we actually went to go run. It was something I am so proud of Brick for accomplishing and a fun weekend all around so I wanted to be sure to recap it all on the blog.

We left Atlanta midday on Friday, April 6 and drove across Atlanta into South Carolina, about 6 hours in total for the drive I'd say. We planned to go right to the expo since we were arriving with about 30 minutes to spare before the end of the event. 

Arriving at the expo was pretty easy, since I think most people had made it through already. The location was only a bit busy (and more colorful!) due to a Jimmy Buffet concert taking place right next door. We walked the Expo with high expectations of free samples and vendors to explore (we are both NOT the in-and-out type of expo attendees.) However, the race expo was already shutting down and a number of the booths had already packed up or were in the process of packing up. A little bit of a let down, but it was okay. We were tired from the drive and knew we had a long day ahead of us. Plus, we hadn't had dinner yet. We snapped some pics and figured out where we needed to be in the morning and then head over to our hotel.

By some stroke of luck, our hotel was actually right in the same complex as the race expo... literally just 2 minutes down the road. What made this really lucky was that the expo spot was one of the locations for bus pickups the next morning. Since it is a point-to-point race, you need to take a shuttle to the race start, very similar to the New York City Marathon. By total coincidence, we ended up having an incredibly logistically easy morning ahead of us, which took a lot of weight off our shoulders.

After having some pizza at a delicious spot right by the hotel and expo, we head to bed just to get up in the morning and walk over to the shuttle bus pickup. Our hotel was awesome and had breakfast bags with fruit, muffins, granola bars and water for runners and the pickup was extremely organized and very smooth. There were a few ITL ladies who were also in town from Atlanta to run the race and I had made plans to meet up with them in the morning at the race start. Again, by pure coincidence, even with 44,000 people at the start, we were able to find them really easily.

Brick and G were going to be walking the race, so we all hung out together at the start and made our way to the corrals but then I moved forward with some of the girls who we all planned to run the race together. None of us had any goal paces and all were planning to run for fun and take it easy, enjoying the experience of this large race!

The run itself actually starts in Mount Pleasant, and at about 2 miles in, you start to head over the bridge. The portion on the bridge itself is about 2 miles, before you enter in to Charleston and finish right in the historic and beautiful downtown area of King Street. The race start was pretty uneventful. I had no hype up dancing and no nerves, it was not a goal race for me so I was just planning on running it like I would a regular weekend run.

The first thing that I noticed when the race started was that there weren't a lot of spectators. Given that a large portion of the race is on a bridge, there of course are not spectators along that portion, but overall I was a little surprised at the fact that there weren't more people out spectating. As we got into Charleston, there were more crowds. However, races with similar numbers of runners (NYC Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Peachtree Road Race, etc.) have people lined all along either sides of the street rows and rows deep. This was less crowded but still lots to look at with the beachy towns, music along the route, and lots of runners in costume along the course. Plus, I was running with my friends, which is not something I have done in a race environment in a long time. We stopped to take some pictures along the route and were continually checking around for one another.

I personally felt like I was having a hard time maintaining what should have been a comfortable pace. I have been having a hard time running in general since my marathon and even though this was only a 10K and it wasn't at any record setting speeds, it felt hard for me. I was happy to see the miles ticking by but at the same time tried to enjoy the experience since I knew it was a bucket list race.

As we head into Charleston and King Street I tried to take in all of the different restaurants and shops. I hadn't been to the Charleston downtown area yet so it was my first time scoping out everything around us and take in the cuteness of the area. I hadn't been to the coast in a while or a coastal town in the south, so I was enjoying seeing the palm looking trees and the cute beach-y feel of the town.

We made two left turns into the finish line and just like that the race was done! Unlike any of the races I've ever done there was no rushing to stop my watch and see what my time was. There was no gasping for air and feeling of excitement or disappointment at how I did. It was just done and I stopped running and laughed and took some pictures with my friends.

There was a great finish line and as we made our way through we got medals, water, and then were dumped into the finish line festival area. There was BBQ, watermelon, muffins, fruit, Gatorade, water, etc. and we tried to stock up on snacks and also hopped into a Panera to use the restroom and get coffee before heading back out to the race course to see our friends who had walked make their way in to the finish.

When Brick and G came through, I jumped back into the race and walked the last .25 miles with them, hopping out of the race before they went through the finish and took pictures as they crossed. I was really proud of Brick for starting and finishing this race, despite seemingly the odds being stacked against her. This race was a goal of hers and the reason I signed up and it wasn't about time for either of us but the experience. She always impresses me!

The one thing I will say about the race is that the finish line party was not well prepared for the people who finished at the end of the race. By the time that Brick came through there was no BBQ, watermelon, or good snacks left. I don't like when races only cater to the people who come in first and don't have enough supplies for everyone. Everyone paid and participated so they should plan to have watermelon for all 44,000 runners in my opinion!

We didn't stay long in the finish party not surprisingly... there wasn't a ton left to do and Brick was ready to be off her feet. With everything sort of crazy and busy in the finish area, we stopped at a cookie shop and grabbed some cookies before making our way back to the hotel to shower and figure out a plan for the day.

The weather had held out for the time that we were at the race, but unfortunately the rest of our Saturday was filled with on and off TORRENTIAL downpour thunderstorms.

We proudly wore our medals around the city and explored the food and sights of Charleston, SC for the rest of Saturday. We tried food and sweets from numerous restaurants and enjoyed some drinks as well before falling asleep early and getting up to make our way back to Atlanta. It was a fun weekend exploring and running in a new city and state and with some of my favorite people. I have no idea what my time was at the Cooper River Bridge Run and I am A-OK with that. I highly recommend it for a fun race experience!