Thousands of runners will get a rare shot at crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on foot next spring, as organizers announced the inaugural SunSky 10K will send up to 8,000 participants over the span on March 21, 2027. Registration for the race opens next Monday, and organizers expect it to sell out quickly given the popularity of past bridge runs.
The race is the brainchild of FRESHJUNKIE Racing, a Baton Rouge-based event production company that, according to WFLA, is running the event as its race director, Jonathan Dziuba, a founding partner of the company, put it plainly: the SunSky 10K is the only time the public can legally run across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Per Running USA, FRESHJUNKIE manages, markets and produces 19 events annually across the South, including the Louisiana Marathon and LSU Tiger 10K, generating more than $15 million in regional economic impact.
Dziuba told WFLA the event is expected to sell out much like the bridge runs that came before it. Runners will pay a $100 general admission fee, while a $300 charity bib option offers a more direct path toward the race's fundraising goals. Race weekend will also include views of sunrise breaking over Tampa Bay from 200 feet above the water, a vantage point normally reserved for drivers speeding past on Interstate 275.
A Return After Hurricane Milton Derailed the Bridge Run
The SunSky 10K represents a comeback for in-person bridge racing in the Tampa Bay area. The previous Skyway 10K, held under different organizers, had to pivot to a virtual-only format for its 2025 edition after Hurricane Milton battered the region in October 2024, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The storm left Tropicana Field's parking lots unusable as a staging area, forcing that year's race entirely online.
Since its 2018 founding, the original Skyway 10K raised more than $2.6 million for the Armed Forces Families Foundation by donating 100% of its proceeds to military community projects, per the race's own accounting. The new SunSky 10K broadens that charitable model considerably, with proceeds this time benefiting a slate of first responder organizations: the American Association of State Troopers, the Association of the U.S. Army Suncoast Chapter, the Coast Guard Foundation, the Suncoast Police Benevolent Association, the Tampa Police Benevolent Association, and Semper Fi & America's Fund. The race is also being run in partnership with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.
Tropicana Field Returns as Race Weekend Hub
Tropicana Field is once again central to the event, hosting a packet pickup party the evening before the race, on March 20, 2027, and serving as the site of the post-race celebration. The stadium's role is made possible through a partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays, and the venue will again function as the primary gathering point for runners before they're shuttled to the bridge itself.
Physically, the challenge runners face is considerable. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge spans 4.14 miles across Tampa Bay, and its main cable-stayed section runs 1,200 feet long, climbing to 190 feet above sea level via a 4% incline grade, according to Wikipedia. The current bridge opened in April 1987 at a cost of $244 million, built after a freighter collision in May 1980 collapsed 1,200 feet of the original southbound span and killed 35 people, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Closing a Major Interstate Doesn't Happen Lightly
Shutting down northbound I-275 for thousands of runners is no small ask. The bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, making any closure a significant undertaking. In May 2026, the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners formally authorized a letter of non-opposition for the temporary bridge closure needed to stage the SunSky 10K, a required step in securing state permitting for the race.
The Gasparilla Distance Classic accommodates more than 20,000 runners along the open streets of Bayshore Boulevard.
Safety Looms Large Over Bridge Races
Running thousands of people across an active interstate carries real risk, a point underscored by an incident during the 2022 Skyway 10K. Florida Highway Patrol trooper Toni Schuck intentionally positioned her patrol vehicle to block an impaired driver traveling toward runners on the bridge, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
With registration set to open next Monday and organizers anticipating a quick sellout, the SunSky 10K is shaping up as one of the most anticipated additions to the region's race calendar next spring — and, for a few hours on race morning, the only time the public will be allowed to cross the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on foot.
