As of 10:30 p.m. Friday, a record-breaking 30,414 people had signed up for the 10K run, 7K walk, or Kids Run, according to Assistant Race Director Tami Varn. That figure will likely grow when final numbers of participants in Friday's Kids Run are counted.

Late Friday, Bridge Run registrants included 17,261 runners, 66 elite runners, 12,576 walkers and 511 youth runners in the Kids Run.

Race Director Julian Smith said he planned to buy a bottle of champagne to pop atop the starting line scaffolding at the beginning of this morning's race.

"I've been trying to hit it (30,000) for years," said Smith, adding that he thinks it happened this year because people want a "bird's eye view of the new (Arthur Ravenel) bridge."

He and others had expected new registration records would be set in the next two years when the last race is held on the Silas N. Pearman Bridge in 2005 and the first is held on the Ravenel Bridge in 2006. So breaking the elusive 30,000 mark this year is a bonus. The closest previous efforts were 29,210 in 2000 and the now-former record of 29,293 last year.

Cedric Jaggers, a Bridge Run historian, said he thinks a week of sunny, cool weather and good Saturday morning forecasts also helped motivate people to sign up.

However, the weather will be a bit cooler than originally forecast, with the 8 a.m. start expected to be 48 degrees under sunny skies and a 9 mph northwest wind. From that direction, runners and walkers can expect a cross-wind on the first span and a slight tail wind on the second span.

With the huge crowd, runners and walkers are urged to line up at the Charleston Visitors Center for Mount Pleasant-bound buses by 6 a.m. and be well on their way to the starting line area by 7 a.m., when streets along the race route are closed. The Pearman Bridge will close by 7:30 a.m. and won't reopen until about 10:30 a.m., so drivers should plan accordingly.

On Friday, traffic on the Charleston peninsula -- as it always is on Bridge Run eve -- was jammed up, as out-of-towners and procrastinators went to Gaillard Auditorium to register and pick up packets. This year, uptown traffic also was gummy as people made their way to and from the Kids Run at Hampton Park.

The event, which had been held the past two years in Mount Pleasant's I'On neighborhood, drew more than 750 children. Toddlers dashed 100 yards, and older youngsters ran races of a mile and one-third of a mile.

People liked the new venue.

Ed and Karen Appert of Winston-Salem, N.C., brought sons Reilly, 6, and Ian, 4, who were riveted to the pre-race warm-up antics of Tim "T-Bone" Arem. They attended the event in I'On last year and described it as being "a little packed."

"This (Hampton) is a great park for the event," said Ed, adding that they also will participate in today's walk.

James Island dad, David Alea, said Hampton Park was better for the event not only because of its open size but also because of the softer surfaces of grass and dirt.

Today, runners and walkers will have plenty to look at, and for, on the course.

The Ravenel bridge, which promises to be a longer, though less steep incline than the Pearman, will loom on the horizon around the Mile 1 mark of the race. Expect to see a few bridge workers snapping pictures from the massive structure, as they did last year.

Also, rumors have swirled for weeks about a mystery celebrity. The race also may have the most politicians running it ever. Gov. Mark Sanford and Charleston Mayor Joe Riley are running, as they have in the past. Senate candidates Thomas Ravenel and Mark McBride, the mayor of Myrtle Beach, are squaring off in the 10K, while another opponent, former Gov. David Beasley, plans to walk it with people from the Medical University of South Carolina organ transplant center.

Runners and walkers also need to stay clear of a group of about 10 red-shirted runners who will be leading a black-shirted and blind-folded runner, Jack Hibbits. Inspired last fall by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' charity run in the New York City Marathon, Hibbits decided to hold a "Hibby Runs The City" fundraiser and has gathered $12,000 in pledges for the local Association for the Blind.

RACE RESULTS

Live coverage of the Cooper River Bridge Run and Walk will be 7:30-9:30 a.m. today on WCSC-TV Channel 5. See complete coverage and results of the Bridge Run in Sunday's edition of The Post and Courier.

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