Horse racing has the Triple Crown. And, beginning next year, Vicksburg will have a three-race championship series of its own.

Plans are in the works for the best runner and walker in the city’s three road races — the Over the River Run, the Chill in the Hills and the Run Thru History — to be awarded the title of the Vicksburg Slam.

Trophies will be awarded and cash prizes are under consideration for the Slam titles, which are designed to increase participation in all three events.

While some details are still being worked out, one thing is certain: runners and walkers have to participate in all three races to qualify. A points system will determine the winners. Runners and walkers will have to sign up before the Over the River Run on Oct. 13 to participate, and will get a 10 percent discount on their entry fees for registering for all three races.

The three race organizers — Walter Frazier, Annette Kirklin and Casey Custer — are hoping to begin online registration at Active.com as soon as June. Signing up for the Slam will get participants a T-shirt, enter them in the points race and make them eligible for prizes.

“This just makes a lot of sense,” said Custer, Vicksburg Y executive director and organizer of the Run Thru History. “We’ve got three great races here. We just want people to buy into this. We think it’s going to be good for Vicksburg, it’s going to get people excited and it’s going to be a fun, extra thing.”

The Slam will start with the Over the River Run, continue through January’s Chill in the Hills and end with the Run Thru History in March. The prize will be awarded at the end of the Run Thru History. Frazier has contacted the Mississippi Track Club for input on how to organize the event’s points system.

“We’ve been investigating other series, but we’re not going to be reinventing the wheel,” said Frazier, who runs the Chill in the Hills race, which will be in its fifth year in 2013. “The Mississippi Track Club’s Grand Prix, which is 10 races, is one model to follow. We’re also looking at other localities like Dallas and Memphis.”

Custer said the Over the River Run was the obvious starting point for the event. The end point, the Run Thru History, will have even more significance next year as the Vicksburg National Military Park celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Siege of Vicksburg.

“I think it’s going to help promote what are three of the most important fund raisers for our groups,” Custer said. “It just makes more sense to start the circuit in October, because if you start it in February, you’re going to lose people over the summer. The park is very interested in this.”

The discussion started in October, as Kirklin, who is the sponsor of the Over the River Run as the executive director of the Southern Cultural Heritage Center, started talking to Frazier. Custer got involved, as well, and the three realized that 2012 was too late to put something together.

“We just knew we couldn’t pull it off,” Kirklin said. “It was just too late. But I think it’s going to be a great collaboration and and it’s going to be a great community event.”

The organizers of the three races have been exchanging emails and meeting over lunch since last year, with the hopes of putting something together. Choosing a name for the event was the easiest part, as Kirklin came up with it early in the process.

“People who know me know that crazy things just come to my head,” Kirklin said. “I was watching TV and it just came to me. It really clicked and I think it’s something unique and catchy.”

The three have continued to hammer out details and will meet in early May to decide more. They might consider adding age divisions in the future to expand the Slam’s reach and appeal. An award for volunteers who assist with all three races is under consideration, as well.

“We’re going to talk to some sponsors and figure out how to fund it,” Frazier said. “I think this will increase participation and awareness of all three races. We don’t want to overplay it, but we want to keep it simple.”