About the Event

This year marked the 5th year for Take Stock in Children Palm Beach County's Bridge the Gap 5K. This 5K race takes runners on a challenging course starting from the Ocean Mall, over the Blue Heron Bridge to the other side, and then loops back to the Ocean Mall. The event starts with participants picking up their bib numbers and shirts, meeting some great sponsors and vendors at their booths, and doing a pre-race warm up with the amazing Wil Romelus from Digital Vibez. If you are interested in participating next year, please visit https://runsignup.com/Race/Info/FL/RivieraBeach/BridgetheGap

The Course


Over 1,000 runners participated in Bridge the Gap this year! Wow! The runners included families, corporate teams, running groups, sports teams, mentors and mentees, friends, and individual runners. They also had some hardcore rucksack runners who carried VERY heavy rucksacks throughout the race. Participants were all ages and all running levels.....with some all-out running, some speed walking, and some just walking. The Blue Heron Bridge is 1975.8 feet high, so it's a challenging uphill run in both directions. Runners get a beautiful view of the water and all the boats on their journey, but that run up the bridge is TOUGH. They close the outside lanes of traffic to keep runners safe and the runners get the outside lanes so they get a great view. Big thanks to Riviera Beach Police for help with traffic! There was a fun high school drum corps at the top of the bridge and a water station to keep everyone hydrated.

It's always challenging for me to photograph the race start and then get out onto the course to get the runners. Just when I think I have a good plan, a monkey wrench is thrown my way to make it more challenging. This year I thought I would park out on the road so I could quickly drive to the bridge, but then I got stopped by a volunteer and a police officer, despite me trying to explain what I needed to do. I really do need a golf court to avoid these kinds of situations. I can write it off as a business expense right? LOL

For this event, I bring an extra photographer so we can catch as much content as possible, but to be honest, I really probably need a 3rd one because it's gotten to be such a big event.

The finish line


After a long, hot run, race participants crossed the finish line and got a gorgeous medal. These medals are STUNNING! Every year it's something beautiful that will surely be a keepsake for the runners. Runners got a quick post-race stretch and adjustment, had the chance to meet some partner nonprofits (including girl scouts....cookies were available!), and they got a great breakfast from Castaways. The winners in each category received a beautiful etched pint glass and got some fun photos.

The photobooth


This year they added my Coastal Click Booth as a fun thing for participants to use before, during, and after the race. It was a HIT! My assistant, Maria, was there to set it up and help keep it going smoothly. Every time I went near it, there was a line of people waiting and they were having so much fun! Guests got their photos instantly via text message and the client got all the photos too!

My team!

Big thanks to my team, Maria and Luis, for helping with this event. It's a LOT to capture and it's VERY fast-paced. The fastest runners will often finish the race in just over 20 minutes, so we have to move very fast to get out to the bridge and get as many runners as we can. I often feel like I ran the 5K myself!

Book us for your 5K


If you have a 5K race coming up, let's chat about photography! Some organizations want all the runners crossing the finish line, some just want overall coverage to document the day, and some have very specific lists of things they want photographed. No matter the size or the scope, we can come up with a game plan that works best. Email me at coastlaclickphotography@gmail.com to book your date!