Out-of-towners find RTH course challenging

Published 12:00 am Sunday, March 7, 2010

At the ripe young age of 80, Murray Collum crossed the Run Thru History finish line on Saturday morning with a time of 1 hour, 14 minutes and said, as usual, the course was a challenge.

Click here for more photos

He said he has run in about 25 of the 31 annual races through the Vicksburg National Military Park because he likes to compete.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

“I’m going to keep doing it until I can’t,” the Brandon resident said.

He said the weather was perfect Saturday, but the hills throughout the park made the run difficult for him.

“The older you get, the higher the hills get,” Collum said with a laugh.

Out-of-towners, including 18-year-old Stacey Hagenson of Poplarville, agreed.

“The hills were challenging,” said Hagenson of the 10-kilometer course, which ended at the Battlefield Inn on North Frontage Road. “There were so many curves you never knew what was coming next. ‘It’s downhill, oh yes!’”

Hagenson, a Poplarville High School senior, shared the route with her future cross-country coach, Delta State University’s Doug Pinkerton.

Pinkerton, who finished about five minutes behind Hagenson’s time of 42:21, said he looks forward to her running for the school after having signed her in February.

Nathan Davis, a 23-year-old Slidell, La., native, won the overall men’s run, and echoed other sentiments about the hilly RTH course.

“It’s a tough course. One of the hilliest ones I’ve been on,” said Davis.

Other winners were:

• Coral Cruz, 24, originally of Puerto Rico and now worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, in the women’s 10K run

• David Smalley, 54, of Florence, in the 5K walk.

• Laurie Whitten, 29, of Clinton won the women’s 5K walk.

More than 900 registered for the race, and about 750 finished the race.

Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com