Image by Flickr user drobnikm
After years of requests for a staggered, or "wave" start during the annual Cooper River Bridge Run, the powers that be are making it a reality for the 2011 event.
Read more stories on this subject in our Cooper River Bridge Run topic page.
The amount of human traffic is so immense at the beginning of the race that it takes some people nearly 15 minutes to even reach to the starting line. The new system will eliminate the wait time and give each "wave" a clear course ahead of them by working like this:
- Runners and walkers will be arranged in large corrals based on how fast they expect to finish the 6.2-mile run from Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant to Marion Square in Charleston - fastest to slowest.
- There will be 12 corrals and each will start in three-minute intervals, or waves.
According to the race, "Our intention with the Wave Start is to insure our runners/walkers have a wide open course to begin the race with less roadblocks of people throughout the course all the way to the finish line."
So, in all, instead of all 33,000-plus participants starting at one time, waves of 3,000 to 5,000 each will depart one at a time.
Hop on over to the post in The Post and Courier and read all about it.
