I’ve always been fascinated by sports records that stand the test of time.

Some, like Cy Young’s 511 wins, will never be broken because the game has changed. Others, like Joe Dimaggio’s 56-game hitting streak or Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, seem like they should be broken eventually but are rarely even approached.

In track and field and distance running, records are typically short-lived. Modern training techniques make most world records from the first half of the 20th century seem slow.

Considering all of that, what Hector Ortiz did on March 21, 1981 gets more remarkable with every passing year.

On that day, Ortiz completed the Run Thru History — a brutal 10-kilometer race through the Vicksburg National Military Park that nearly every competitor swears is among the toughest they’ve done — in 30 minutes and 35 seconds.

That’s a 5-minute mile pace, or about 12 mph. The speed limit on the Park’s tour road is only 20 mph.

The record has stood for 34 years, with literally thousands of runners challenging it since then. Few have even come close.

Some years ago, then-Vicksburg Post sports editor Sean Murphy hopped in a car with a couple of Run Thru History committee members to see if they could beat the record.

They failed.

Only two other people, Damon Martin in 1984 and Yousri El Mejdoubi in 2002, have broken the 31-minute mark. El Mejdoubi was a ringer, a semi-professional runner brought in specifically by then-RTH committee chairman Mack Varner to see if Ortiz’s record could be broken. The committee offered the Morocco native a cash prize if he could set the mark.

El Mejdoubi gave it a go, but by the time he appeared at the top of the Frontage Road leading to the finish line, it was obvious he wouldn’t make it. He came up 22 seconds short, and Ortiz’s record stood tall.

A few hundred more runners will take aim at the mark this year, and they’ll likely fail too. Tom Lilleyman, who plans to run the Boston Marathon next month, won last year’s race with a time of 37:40. Most winners these days seem to come across the finish line in the 34-minute range. Only three have broken the 33-minute barrier since 2000.

As a point of reference, Ortiz’s record is well behind the current world class men’s 10K pace of around 27 minutes, but it would still rank sixth in the world on the women’s list. Paula Radcliffe, a one-time world record holder in the marathon, ran a 30:21 10K in 2003 that has held up as the world record.

Ortiz himself won the Run Thru History one more time, finishing in 31:25 in 1982. He’s long since moved on from Vicksburg. We tried to track him down a few years ago with no success. Someone said he moved to Dallas. Personally, I like to think he travels the country smashing local 10K records to bits even in his advancing age.

Maybe there’s another Hector Ortiz lurking in the weeds this year. Someone speedy with a Saturday morning and a legend to kill. We’ll find out Saturday when the cannon fires and the 36th annual Run Thru History begins. Come on out and see if someone has what it takes to challenge a record for the ages.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer. He can be reached at 601-619-7120 or by email at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com