Skyway 10K will close portions of bridge on Sunday
ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - After years of planning, a 10K race on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is taking place on Sunday, March 4, with a slew of other events to honor the inaugural event.
More than 7,000 runners have registered from 40 states and three countries, and the sold-out Skyway 10K Bridge Run will benefit the Armed Forces Families Foundation. Organizers anticipate the race will raise more than a half-million dollars for the foundation.
The inaugural race, which is the first run over the bridge since it was dedicated in 1987, also means road closures for Sunday morning.
The northbound side of the Skyway will be closed from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. The southbound portion of the Skyway Bridge will remain, only southbound. Organizers say drivers needing to cross the bridge to head northbound will need to make other arrangements between these times. Additionally, there will be no access to the Skyway Bridge fishing piers on Sunday from midnight until after 10 a.m.
Also, 4th Avenue South near Tropicana Field will not be open to the public between Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 16th Street South from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. The traffic flow will be reversed for busing. Racers will be arriving at Tropicana Field to board buses to commute to the bridge.
The run begins on Interstate 275 at the rest area just south of the bridge, and ends at the rest area on the north side of the bridge. The total distance happens to be 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles.