Local runners excited about prospect of Sunshine Skyway race

Premature groans have rolled in citing potential traffic woes related to a planned New Year’s Day half marathon on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. But local runners are taking the news in stride.

“I can tell you that there are people who got really excited (when they found out),” said Lori Dunlap, who manages social events for the Bradenton Runners Club. She posted the news in the group’s private Facebook page.

The response: “Bonkers,” she said.

Dunlap calls herself a “newbie” to the Sunshine State, having come from Ohio, but she is an experienced runner used to the hills of, well, anywhere but Florida.

“It’s a completely different experience, exercising on the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains versus here,” Dunlap said.

The race is proposed to begin at the southbound Skyway rest area around 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day, from which runners can watch the sun rise over Tampa from nearly 200 feet in the air. On Monday, the Palmetto City Commission approved for the race to end around 9 a.m. at Blackstone Park.

Shane Henry, who has tried to coordinate this event for several years, told the Bradenton Herald that Manatee County still needs to approve the event. The Florida Department of Transportation has not officially commented on the possibility of closing the Skyway, and the event organizers would have to pay the department for the loss of toll revenue.

But the idea of shutting down an historic landmark for a run is intriguing enough to pique a runner’s interest. The club’s president, Joe Tanner, said its members have participated in runs in Iceland, in Liverpool — all over the world.

“We look forward to doing the ones that are unique and special,” Tanner said.

The only time people were allowed to cross the Skyway on foot was when it opened in 1987. And if the event doesn’t cause too many traffic hiccups and is set for a second go in 2019, the medals from inaugural races are always incentives to boast about the time you ran the first race across the Skyway.

“If it ends up something that will continue, there are some of those little bragging rights,” Dunlap said.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Local runners excited about prospect of Sunshine Skyway race."