Officials prepare for 45th annual Cooper River Bridge Run
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The 45th Annual Cooper River Bridge Run is only a few days away and this year it’s back to happening in the spring after years of delays and cancelations.
Race directors and local businesses say a lot of preparations go into this weekend.
“It is so much fun to see all the people at the start. It’s great seeing them yelling and screaming when they get on the start line,” said Irv Batten, The Cooper River Bridge Run Race Director.
Batten said he anticipates more than 19,000 people participating this year and he has been planning for two races at once. Last year’s race was postponed until September because of the pandemic.
“We postponed, then we had to do a virtual version, and then we had to post-pone again. The September one was smaller and it did have issues,” Batten said.
Area business owners like Wade Boals of Saltwater Cowboys say, his restaurant expects a ton of sales this weekend because of the influx of people. He is making sure he has all hands on deck.
“We are challenged with staff like most of the people in our industry are. It is a challenging time, but we are looking forward to it. It’s a really big money-making weekend for the staff that works for us,” says Boals.
Batten said the biggest challenge they are facing this year is supply chain backlogs, which means race medals will not arrive in time for this weekend.
“The metals were supposed to be here a month and a half ago. It is what it is you just have to roll with it, everyone will get theirs in the mail,” said Batten.
Despite the challenges of this year’s race, Batten says seeing the thousands of people come out and participate makes it all worth it.
“Watching the elite wheelchair racers and the elite runners, seeing how fast they go. It is great to see so many different things,” Batten said.
The expo for racers to pick up their race day packet is Thursday from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Charleston Convention Center.
