The 15th annual Pensacola Double Bridge Run, presented by Publix, is set for Saturday with a record of more than 3,000 athletes expected to participate in the 15K and 5K races on Saturday, Feb. 4.

The 15-kilometer race spans two bridges – the Pensacola Bay Bridge and the Bob Sikes Bridge from Gulf Breeze – to Pensacola Beach. The 15K run starts in Pensacola at 7 a.m., while the 5K run portion of the event starts at 8:30 a.m. in Gulf Breeze.

Last year’s men’s champion, Mark Kenneally of Dublin, Ireland, returns to defend his title. He already has been named to the 2012 Irish Olympic team and will be competing in this summer’s London Games marathon.

Tyler McCandless of Boulder, Colo., last year’s runner-up, is expected back. He finished with a time of 2:19:56 at the Olympic Marathon Trials and has won the Denver and San Francisco half-marathons.

Jennifer Hanley-Pinto is another former Double Bridge Run champion who returns this year. Hanley-Pinto is a fivetime DBR champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005). She also qualified for and finished the Ironman World Triathlon Championship in Hawaii.

Molly Pritz will be competing in the 15K for the first time but brings an impressive resume. She was the top American female finisher in the 2011 New York City Marathon and also was the 2011 USATF 25K national champion.

Monetary awards will be given to the first three overall finishers for the men and women in the 15K race. First place pays $1,250 while second pays $500 and third $250 in the 15K.

Awards for the 15K and 5K runners including overall, masters, grandmasters and senior grandmasters will be awarded individually at the conclusion of each event. Age group awards three-deep in five-year age categories starting at 13 for the 15K and 10 for the 5K will be available at the awards ceremony.

Walkers will be awarded three-deep in two categories: 39-under and 40-over.

Registration strictly ends Friday for this year’s race. Late registration is available at the Race Expo at the Hilton Gulf Front Conference Center on Pensacola Beach today (Thursday, Feb. 2) between 4 and 8 p.m., and Friday (Feb. 3) from noon to 8 p.m.

Race packets will be available for pick-up at the Expo and include a T-shirt, Friday night dinner, post-race party with a meal and a free Saturday night concert.

The post-race party with hot food and cold drinks starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until noon at Hemingway’s Island Grill. On Saturday night, ‘Mingo Fishtrap’ from Houston will headline a free concert at the Seville Quarter Courtyard between Rosie O’Grady’s and Heritage Hall in Pensacola. The concert is free for race participants and $10 for runners’ guests.

The Gulf Breeze Sertoma Club is an event beneficiary.