Mount Pleasant Magazine March April 2019

36 www.MPMcalendar.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature 1981. “My one – and only – claim to fame,” he said with a laugh. Although his times are still competitive, with talent pouring in from far and wide, it’s much more difficult to finish at the front of the pack. “The race has changed dramatically from being a local, state/regional race to an (international) race. … And what I mean by that is that the competition went from being more regional and surrounding states to really it’s a worldwide event now. They’re bringing in athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia and other countries, and there’s prize money. …When I won, there was a trophy,” stated Embler, musing at the growth of the race over the years. Although the race is hard-core competition for those elite runners up front, that doesn’t stop the Bridge Run from being an “event” filled with fun for others in the mix. “About this time of year, everybody is asking, ‘Are you doing the Bridge?’ … It’s a big event that leads to a party in the park afterwards,” Embler explained. Burt Hodges, a resident of Mount Pleasant’s Old Village, is a longtime bridge runner and sees the race as a father-son tradition. Hodges has run the Bridge since 1998 – 20 years – and, for the past five years, he’s been running with his son, Marshall, now a sophomore at Academic Magnet, where he participates in cross-country and track. “Obviously, it’s gotten a lot bigger. … I think the biggest change that we saw was when the new bridge went up. The last year of the old bridge was a big one just because everyone wanted to run that for the last time, then the new bridge went up … and I think they probably set a record for attendance at that race,” Hodges said. Citing one of his favorite memories running with his son, Hodges recalled spotting one of his favorite running celebrities, Bill Rodgers – four-time winner of the Boston Marathon – and snapping a photo of Marshall as they passed Rodgers, who was obviously running at a leisurely pace. Hodges also lauded Julian Smith’s efforts in growing the race over the years. He recalled seeing Smith rallying excitement and attendance for the Bridge Run while he was in Big Sur, California, in 2000 for a marathon. “Julian was out there at the expo for the Big Sur Marathon trying to draw up support for the Cooper River Bridge Run. … I saw firsthand how hard he worked at it. … It (is impressive) that he has built it to what it is today,” Hodges said. Local resident Stephen Judy echoed Hodges’ sentiments, stating, “The amount of people it brings to town … the fun everyone has … it is a big social event and a tribute to Charleston and Mount Pleasant. I have friends from Charlotte and Raleigh that have been coming for the last several years – not to win it, just to be a part of it.” Judy also reflected on the previous two bridges that hosted the race, before the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge was opened in 2005: the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge and the Silas N. Pearman Bridge. The Grace Memorial Bridge was a narrow, shaky structure, and a pack of stampeding runners made the race an interesting, likely hazardous, experience. “I remember a run on the Silas Pearlman Bridge when it rained so hard that we ran through ankle-deep water at the base of that bridge,” said Judy. Terry Hamlin fondly recalled the earliest days of the race, which he and Dr. Marcus Newberry founded in 1978. A chemist at the Medical University of South Carolina, Hamlin had already formed the Charleston Running Club in 1977. Dr. Newberry, dean of the College of Medicine at MUSC, was a member. “Marcus came into my lab one day and he said, ‘I have an idea to see if the club and MUSC would partner up and do a race across the Cooper River Bridge. Do you think we should get that done? And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And that’s exactly how it was born – that day at that moment,” said Hamlin. The partnership between MUSC, with its mission of Marshall Hodges, left, with four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers after an early Cooper River Bridge Run. Photo courtesy of Burt Hodges.