Cooper River Bridge Run

I did the Bridge Run for the first time in 2015. I signed up for the 2016 run when I received the first email announcement. Yes, I could run the bridge at anytime, but there’s something about running on the street with 30k other people that is way more awesome.
This is not a small race by any means. No matter what corral you are placed in, you will be weaving around people. Also, since this is one of the «best» 10ks on the east coast, there are a lot of visitors and people who don’t know race etiquette. For the amount of people that run this race, it is well organized.
My only complaint was that the finisher’s area was off to the side in a park and I had to interrogate someone where they had found a bottle of water since we couldn’t find the food/​water stands. Additionally, the race photographers were about ½ a mile before the actual race ending, which was such a tease since most of us thought we were at the end of the race when we actually weren’t. Also, the photos were expensive!
When we did actually make it to the end, people just STOPPED running, which meant that everyone behind them either ran into them (oops, not sorry) or had to avoid them, if possible. The person in front of me definitely got slammed into because I wasn’t expecting them to stop.
The best advice I got was leave a car downtown at a parking garage that allows overnight parking, then you don’t have to wait to take the shuttles back to where ever you shuttled in from, you can just jump in your car, pick up the vehicle from the AM, and be on your merry way.

2015 was my first bridge run. I’ve lived here for 3 years and run just about every other road race in Charleston. Believe it or not, there are multiple road races and trail runs in Charleston every other weekend :). This race is pricey and they don’t do discount codes so sign up as early as possible to save money.
First, if you are a local, pick up your packet at the Bridge Run’s store on Shelmore Blvd in the few weeks before the race. There is no need for you to go to the expo unless you just want to.
If you care about your time, get into the best corral possible. Another reviewer mentioned starting the 45 minute runners with the 60 minutes and that isn’t the case. If you have run another local 10K road race (or a previous bridge run) in the 45 minute ballpark, email the organizers with a link to that result and they will make sure you are in the correct corral. You can willingly move back corrals to run with friends but they can’t move up. But, I do agree that they could seed/​corral the times a bit better because there’s a big difference in a 45 minute 10K and an hour.
There’s a big median in the road before you hit the bridge. The announcers talk about this but people still miss it. Also they sing/​play the Star Spangled banner multiple times in the hour before the race starts so just because you hear it, doesn’t mean you have to scramble to your corral– unless it’s 7:50 — 7:55 or so.
The race didn’t feel crowded to me, but according to the media, registrations were down (about 27k in 2015). I also started in the front so everyone running around me was running– or had run enough races to know to stay to the right if they had to walk/​stop.
I only had 2 issues. The shuttle back to the start took us to the wrong location (start is not in North Charleston) even though it was marked as going back to the start. Once the guy got there, he took us back to Mt. Pleasant/​Coleman Blvd, but it took up a lot of time driving on 526. People on the bus had to give him directions. Also the start line bag drop filled up before 7 AM so many of us had to walk all the way back to the last corral to drop off our gear check bags before the race. Fortunately, I got to my corral in time and so did everyone else I talked to.

Greatest 10K in the greatest city!
One of the most well organized races I have ever seen. With over 40,000 runners Im sure it can be difficult to coral that many people. Amazing support from the local charities with them donating at least 100 volunteers per organization. The wave style coral starts are flawless. The coral security did a great job making sure each runner was located in their proper coral. The color coordinated bibs and coral signs were great.
I loved that there was a different band every mile of the race, this past year. Kept the scenery changing constantly. Every police officer, military person, firefighter was beyond courteous.

I have run this event dozens of times. The organizers of the CRBR keep finding ways to make a good event worse. First I still remember the 2012 race. It started over an hour late. It was horrible. Now they decided the start the 45 minute runners with the 60 minute runners in the same coral. I know: STUPID. Plan on darting back and forth and stopping and starting for the first mile. At least Charleston is a wonderful city.
Its a social event not a race. If you do not care about your time, then you can have a blast.

Ran this race for the first time this year on March 27, 2010 along with 40,000 other people! It was also my first 10K and it was insane. The atmosphere and getting to run on the scenic Ravenel Bridge is a once in a lifetime (unless you do the bridge run every year — or live in Charleston and can run it daily).
This even attracts so many people as well as elite runners. It was really cool to see all the Kenyans and top athletes from all over the place.
I am definitely a fan of this race and hope to do many more as the years go by.