Isle of Palms Connector Run: Road Closures, Local Events and Beach Work
Last year's plan for the Isle of Palms Connector Run started shutting roads at 6:30 a.m. and did not finish reopening them until an estimated 11 a.m. The 35th annual run and walk was scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026, with the 10K and 5K starting at 8 a.m. The city's 2026 closure notice was not available when this was written, so the schedule below comes from the 2025 notice issued by the Isle of Palms Police Department. The department posts updates on its social media channels.
The closure covers more than the bridge, and that is the detail that changes the morning.
| Time in 2025 | What closed |
|---|---|
| 6:30 a.m. | JC Long Boulevard from Palm Boulevard to Ocean Boulevard |
| 7:00 a.m. | Palm Boulevard between 10th and 14th Avenues |
| 7:00 a.m. | The Isle of Palms Connector (SC-517), from Palm Boulevard to Rifle Range Road in Mount Pleasant, closed to all vehicles |
| 8:00 a.m. | Race start |
| About 11:00 a.m. | All roads estimated open to vehicles |
The notice named a single route for anyone who needed to get on or off the island during the race, which was Sullivan's Island. It also named a route inside the island: a detour along Ocean Boulevard between 14th and 10th Avenues to bypass the closed stretch of Palm Boulevard. So under that 2025 notice, the race took out the mainland link and part of the island's main road at the same moment, and the two bypasses were different roads.
Under the 2025 plan, the Connector closed at 7 a.m. and roads were estimated open around 11. A trip starting on the island side of the closure at 6:45 would have had the Connector. A trip starting at 7:15 would have used Breach Inlet and Sullivan's Island, and Ocean Boulevard for the last few blocks. The city's Connector traffic page links the SCDOT's South Carolina 511 app for real-time conditions.
For the October 3 race, packet pickup was scheduled for Thursday from 2 to 7 p.m. and Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Isle of Palms Exchange Club, 201 Palm Boulevard. The race encouraged Thursday or Friday pickup to avoid the Saturday rush. A Saturday pickup window from 6 to 7:30 a.m. at the Fire Station on JC Long Boulevard was scheduled during the hour when last year's closures began.
The 5K goes halfway across the Connector and loops back. The 10K goes all the way to the Mount Pleasant side, near the entrance to Seaside Farms, before returning. That is why the closure ends at Rifle Range Road. The race organizers describe views of the Atlantic, the Intracoastal Waterway, creeks, marsh and waterfowl along the way.
The city hosts the event with the Isle of Palms Exchange Club and the Town of Mount Pleasant, which explains the coordination on both ends of the span. The finish is on JC Long Boulevard, where the post-race festival runs with live music, a kids' area, vendor exhibits, cash prizes and an awards ceremony, plus free beer for those 21 and older. The race runs rain or shine.
The run is a charity race, and the money it raised in 2025 is the best reason to accept the closure.
The organizers report giving more than $1,386,000 to local nonprofits over three decades. In 2025 alone they gave a record $200,000. That single year is roughly one-seventh of everything the race has ever distributed. The year before, 2024, the figure was $146,000, so 2025 was about 37 percent higher. For a race in its 35th year, that is an acceleration.
The 2025 beneficiaries named on the race site include:
All funds raised go to organizations working on preventing child abuse and helping families heal. A roughly four-and-a-half-hour road closure is a modest price next to a $200,000 distribution to those groups.
October's calendar includes short, local programming, often tied to a cause.
On Thursday, October 1, the city's Sea Stroll & Learn series was scheduled to meet at the IOP Public Dock with Barrier Island Eco Tours, the Island Turtle Team and Holy City Birding. A week later, on Thursday, October 8, the same series is scheduled to cover surf fishing from the sand with Barrier Island Eco Tours. The city page lists both programs; check it for the October 8 program's time before going.
On Saturday, October 10, The Windjammer at 1008 Ocean Boulevard hosts its 14th annual CCC live music event. Doors open at 6 p.m., and tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The lineup is Palmetalhead, Headrush and Glamnation, three acts built around 70s and 80s rock, hard rock and hair-band tribute sets. Earlier that day, the 14th annual cornhole tournament is played on the beach at The Windjammer. Like the race, the night benefits Lowcountry children. Later dates on the venue's calendar include Ax and the Hatchetmen on Saturday, October 17, and Top House on Friday, October 23, both at 6 p.m.
For a meal around any of it, three long-standing places have their own hours and menus posted. Long Island Cafe opened in 1986 in a strip mall on the island, serves a Sunday brunch and is known for its seafood steamer buckets. Its sister restaurant, IOP Raw, sits next door, and both were sold to longtime patrons in 2022. Islander 71 is a waterfront restaurant on the Intracoastal Waterway beside the IOP Marina. Acme Lowcountry Kitchen serves breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. daily. Hours can change, so a quick check before the trip saves a wasted one.
Anyone heading to the sand after the race should know that the 2026 renourishment is still under way. Reach 3 covers the south end of the island from the Isle of Palms Pier to Breach Inlet and adds about 800,000 cubic yards of sand. The beach stays open, with active work zones of about 300 yards fenced off and sand walkovers built over the dredge pipes.
Sources differ on timing. The city's June plan put Reach 3 at mid-September through November, starting between 5th and 7th Avenues and moving toward the pier and then Breach Inlet. A Post and Courier report from July said the south-end work would begin November 1 and run into December. The city's beach webpage carries live project status, and it is the better place to check the day of.
The city also issued a bid request on September 4 for dune fencing and vegetation across the renourished areas, including about 500,000 square feet of planting with sea oats, bitter panic grass and beach morning glory, and about 10,000 linear feet of sand fencing.
If race weekend has you thinking about what this island means for your next chapter, Elizabeth Gales is glad to talk it through. Schedule a Strategy Conversation.
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