The Pensacola Double Bridge Run was founded in 1998 by a committee of Pensacola area running and sports enthusiasts brought together by the Pensacola Sports Association to create a marquee event for the area. The committee was charged with negotiating with the Santa Rosa Island Authority of Pensacola Beach and the Cities of Pensacola and Gulf Breeze to develop a road race that would join mainland Pensacola to Pensacola Beach.

The inaugural event featured 12K and 5K runs, with the 12K starting at the foot of the 3-mile Pensacola Bay Bridge and the 5K starting farther east in Gulf Breeze. Both runs finished at the Casino Beach parking lot on the Gulf of Mexico . The next year, the 12K course was not used due to logistical challenges and the race was extended to 15K, which placed the runners along picturesque Bayfront Parkway in downtown Pensacola and allowed for better parking and pre-start staging. Runners were still asked to maintain an 11-minute mile pace until they crossed the 3-mile bridge into Gulf Breeze.The finish area was moved to the Pensacola Beach Visitor’s Information Center . Still searching for the ideal combination, a 10K race was added in 2002, but the committee reverted to the 15K / 5K format in 2003 to maintain the simplicity of two starts and one finish.

The course remained largely unchanged until 2007, when a new proposal to run “against” traffic, utilizing the outside westbound lane, was adopted to make Highway 98 more accessible to vehicle traffic in Gulf Breeze and allow the race to finish on the Portofino Boardwalk side of Via DeLuna on Pensacola Beach.

Through the years, many people and companies have given support to the Double Bridge Run. Some of the sponsors have included: Academy Sports, Air Tran, Coke, Budweiser, Sacred Heart Hospital, GTE, Vince Whibbs Automotive Group, Whitney Bank, the Pensacola News Journal and the Santa Rosa Island Authority. Volunteers from the Pensacola Sports Association, Gulf Breeze Sertoma, Pensacola Runners Association and the United States Marine Corps have played important roles in the success of the race. Most critically, however, has been the consent and support of the Santa Rosa Island Authority, the Cities of Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, without which the event would not be possible.

The run has provided financial support for the Gulf Breeze Sertoma and other groups and the Pensacola Sports Association’s Program of Work, which includes a series of free sports clinics and the High School Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet.