Cooper River Bridge Run

I've been a terrible blogger lately... I'll admit it. But, I completely blame it on my race training. I have been so consumed in fulfilling my New Year's resolution of running and Zumba that I've had very little time for anything else. When I'm not doing Zumba, I'm running, and vice versa! I will say though, I have absolutely LOVED training for the Cooper River Bridge Run. In fact, I'm already thinking about my next race which will be the Drew's Day 5K at the end of April.

The Cooper River Bridge Run was indescribable. I cannot put into words what a gorgeous area Charleston, SC is, and to have the opportunity to run across this gorgeous bridge on a flawless day was unbelievable. In addition to being unbelievable, it was CROWDED! There were over 40,000 people that registered for the race, and just over 34,000 completed it. Talk about a lot of people!

Ravenel Bridge...  yep, I ran across that!

I did this race with my husband, Justin, my in-laws, Terrie & David, my husband's aunt and uncle, Patty & Winston, and his cousin, Mark. It was such a great experience to do this with so many wonderful people :) Winston is a great runner, so all of his motivation and tips really helped me through this race!

Winston, Patty, Justin, me, Mark, Terrie & David at the finish! Our team was the Almost Heaven 7 :)

My bib number! I started in Corral F with runners between 49 minutes to one hour. The corrals went all the way back to 'K' with runners over one hour and walkers!

There were aspects of the race that I had not anticipated. One was the amount of people. I knew it would be crowded, but I had no idea that I would be boxed in for quite some time. Additionally, I didn't anticipate such a strong headwind over the bridge. It's quite a steep climb up the bridge and with a strong wind in my face, it definitely slowed my time down. Overall though, I was happy with how I finished. Because of the corral start, I finished in the top 15,000 overall runners. My time was just over 67 minutes, and that placed me in the top 17,000 runners by time. I was also in the top 8,000 female finishers! Not too bad for my first 10K :)

Results in the local paper the next day... I feel good about it!

After the race, we had a chance to relax and wind down at Folly Beach. What a great atmosphere, and an amazing end to a wonderful race. I definitely recommend the Cooper River Bridge Run to anyone looking for a fun 10K. There were competitors of all shapes and skill levels, and it feels like such an accomplishment to have been a part of this race!

Folly Beach, SC

I can't believe my first 10K has come and gone! Next up are some 5K races, and of course, a half marathon looms at the end of the year! I promise to try and blog better now that I'm not as busy :)