By LEONARD GRAY

LULING – Orion Refining Company and United Way of St. Charles have re-teamed for the sixth annual Hale Boggs Bridge Run, a five-kilometer race which is United Way’s premier fund-raising event, usually raising more than $30,000 and hosting nearly 2,000 runners.

This year’s event is scheduled April 13, with a pre-registration party set the night before with food and entertainment open to the community.

The race itself begins at 8:30 a.m. near the East Bank Bridge Park in Destrehan and ends at the West Bank Bridge Park in Luling.

Orion plant manager Eric Bluth, who ran in last year’s event, said, “There’s a real sense of excitement” about this year’s event. A predecessor of his, Glenn McGinnis, himself an avid runner, helped launch the fund-raiser in 1997 with Congresswoman Lindy Boggs firing the starting gun.

One innovation in this year’s event is a $1,000 cash prize to whoever sets new records in the men’s and women’s division. The current records are 14:28 for men and 17:25 for women.

The run is being organized under the auspices of the New Orleans Track Club and considered particularly challenging, given the bridge’s 8 percent incline on the access ramps and 4 percent incline on the span itself.

“It’s also a great family event, open to the public,” added Orion spokeswoman Joy Patin.

The bridge’s history dates back to a telegram from Congressman Hale Boggs to the St. Charles Parish Police Jury on Sept. 30, 1965, which announced approval of federal funds for the bridge. Ground-breaking was in 1974 and opened in 1983 as the Luling-Destrehan Bridge. The following year, it was re-named the Hale Boggs Bridge in honor of the late congressman.

The bridge became a symbol of the parish’s progressive vision and was the site of two major events – the Hands Across the Bridge event as part of Hands Across America, held prior to the bridge’s official opening, and the Olympic Torch Relay in May 1996.

In 1996, J.B. Falgoust of First American Bank and Michael Heath of River Road Running Association conceived the idea of an annual run. The following year, the first Hale Boggs Bridge Run was held with corporate sponsorship by Orion Refining Corp.

This year’s run is subtitled “The Louisiana Attitude Challenge,” challenging runners to go across a bridge 175 feet in the air.

A pre-registration event is planned April 12, 5-8:30 p.m., at the West Bridge Park, featuring music, food and entertainment, open to the public. Entertainment included Luther Kent and Trick Bag (which features Superintendent Dr. Rodney Lafon on saxophone).

It is also the last opportunity for participants to pre-register at $15.

On race day, registration goes to $20 ($12 with no T-shirt included).

For additional information on the race itself, contact race officials at 504-482-6682.

Online information may also be found at www.runNOTC.org.