Maiyo and Romanova triumph in Charleston's Cooper River Bridge Run

The 28th Cooper River Bridge Run and Walk, a yearly event including the third-largest 10k race in the United States, was held Saturday across Charleston's Silas N. Pearman Bridge spanning the Cooper River.

Linus Maiyo of Kenya, 22, and Olga Romanova of Russia, 24, won the men's and woman's races, respectively. Maiyo finished in 29:30 and Romanova in 34:04. Runners were treated to the "second worst weather" in the history of the race, according to race organizers. It rained for the first hour of the race and the first few minutes of the walk. The morning saw winds of up to 25 miles per hour with temperatures around 65°F.

Before race organizers closed registration early, over 42,000 people signed up for this year's event, vastly more than the record of 30,000 registrants set just last year. Participants represent all fifty states and many countries. The race's popularity has steadily increased since its inception in 1978.

This may be the last year the race is held on the Pearman Bridge; future races will be held on the new Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge scheduled to open this summer. The Charleston Running Club, which helped start the Cooper River Bridge Run, plans a Burn the Bridges run over the old bridges after traffic moves to the new bridge.

Workers on the Ravenel Bridge cheered the runners and walkers as they passed.