Runners and walkers flock to inaugural Mt. Hope Bridge Run (video)

Runners head over to Bristol during the inaugural Mt. Hope Bridge 5K Road Race. Portsmouth is in the background, with the Carnegie Abbey Tower seen in the distance at right.

Jim McGaw

Having just left the Portsmouth School Department after 42 years, Diana White spent her first day of retirement Saturday morning on top of the Mt. Hope Bridge.

Jim McGaw

Bryan Ganley and Denise Panichas, executive director of the Samaritans of Rhode Island, just before the race.

Jim McGaw

EastBayRI.com · Saturday, August 12, 2017 9:16 am

Mt. Hope Bridge
Bristol, RI 02809
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Rainy skies cleared in time to welcome a sold-out field of 850 runners and walkers for the first Mt. Hope Bridge 5K Saturday morning. The race began promptly at 7:30 a.m., with one lane of the two-lane span closed to motor vehicles.

Buddy Croft, executive director of the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, was relieved to see that Mother Nature didn’t disrupt the race, which had been in the planning stages for quite some time.

“This went perfectly,” Mr. Croft said from atop the span as he watched runners — and a few walkers — pass him by on their way to Bristol. “This was two and a half years in the making.”

Scroll through our slideshow of photos from the race at top. Race results will be posted later today.