Photo Gallery: 44th annual Run Thru History

Published 1:56 pm Saturday, March 4, 2023

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Kidd Parker waves as he passes a water station near the midway point of the Run Thru History on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Race walkers including Tabitha Dahmen-Redd (1473) and Alex Redd (1477) take off from the starting line during the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. More than 500 people competed in the 10K run, 5K race walk, and 1-mile children's fun run. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners take off from the starting line during the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. More than 500 people competed in the 10K run, 5K race walk, and 1-mile children's fun run. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Race walkers take off from the starting line during the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. More than 500 people competed in the 10K run, 5K race walk, and 1-mile children's fun run. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Race walkers Race walkers Lina Jones (1453) and Jennifer Cain (1462) begin the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. More than 500 people competed in the 10K run, 5K race walk, and 1-mile children's fun run. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Chris McNeece navigates the course in the Vicksburg National Military Park during the 44th annual Run Thru History on Saturday. McNeece finished fifth in the 10K run with a time of 39:37. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Samuel Terrett navigates the course in the Vicksburg National Military Park during the 44th annual Run Thru History on Saturday. Terrett finished ninth in the 10K run with a time of 43:22. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Laura Jimenez smiles as she passes a water station near the midway point of the Run Thru History on Saturday. Jimenez finished second in the women's division with a time of 48:38.(Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Allen Joiner takes a gulp of water near the halfway point of the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Broderick Chambers (27) is directed around a curve by a race volunteer during the 44th annual Run Thru History on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

A race volunteer directs runners around a turn during the 44th annual Run Thru History on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Peter Kazery approaches the finish line at the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. Kazery won his record sixth Run Thru History overall championship with a time of 34:37. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Run Thru History race director Phillip Doiron, left, gives a high five to Brody Williams near the finish line. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Joyce Beacham heads toward the finish line at the 44th annual Run Thru History on Saturday. Beacham is the only person ever to compete in every 5K race walk since the event was added to the Run Thru History in 1989. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Gary Sessums heads toward the finish line at the 44th annual Run Thru History 10K on Saturday. Sessums, who finished 197th out of 201 runners, is one of only two people to compete in the Run Thru History every year since it was started in 1980. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Rodgers Coffing heads toward the finish line at the 44th annual Run Thru History 10K on Saturday. Coffing is one of only two people to compete in the Run Thru History every year since it was started in 1980. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Retired Brigadier General Jimmy Fowler, right, hugs Magen Shelton and her daughter Sterling Ann Shelton after completing the Run Thru History 5K race walk on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners storm off the starting line during the Run Thru History's Cannonball Run 1-Miler on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners take off from the starting line during the Run Thru History's Cannonball Run 1-Miler on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Jackson Finney runs toward the finish line on his way to victory in the Run Thru History's Cannonball Run children's 1-mile fun run on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners take off from the starting line during the Run Thru History's Cannonball Run 1-Miler on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Mississippi Track Club president Jack Ward shouts encouragement to runners at the 44th annual Run Thru History Saturday in the Vicksburg National Military Park. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg National Military Park employees prepare to fire a cannon during a demonstration following the 44th annual Run Thru History on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Donna Ingram poses for a photo at the Run Thru History after-party on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Elizabeth Joyner, left, and Lee Fore pose with their trophies after winning the women's and men's Masters division championships, respectively, in the Run Thru History's 5K race walk on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

A member of the band The Chill plays drums at the Run Thru History after-party on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The Chill performs at the Run Thru History after-party on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Craig Peacock, an employee of Southern Beverage Company, pours a beer at the Run Thru History after-party on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

More than 500 runners and walkers continued a Vicksburg tradition on Saturday by competing in the 44th annual Run Thru History at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Held on the first Saturday each March since it was started in 1980, the event includes a 10-kilometer run, 5-kilometer race walk, and a children’s 1-mile fun run. An after-party featuring Vicksburg band The Chill, as well as the Run Thru History’s “world famous” hot dogs and beer provided by Southern Beverage Company, followed across the street in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn.

The winners in this year’s 10K run were Peter Kazery and Kristi Hall. Kazery, a 31-year-old from Clinton, won the overall 10K title for a record sixth time. Hall, who had nine runner-up finishes before finally winning in 2021, won the women’s championship for the third year in a row.

In the 5K race walk, Larry Robinson claimed his seventh Run Thru History overall championship. Angel Curry won the women’s championship.

Jackson Finney, a 12-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, won the Cannonball Run 1-Miler.

Three long-running streaks also continued at this year’s Run Thru History. Rodgers Coffing and Gary Sessums continued their streak of having run in the 10K event every year, and Joyce Beacham kept her run of being in every 5K walk alive.

The 71-year-old Coffing finished 183rd out of 201 runners. The 64-year-old Sessums, who has finished near the back of the pack in most of his Run Thru History outings, was 197th. The 66-year-old Beacham did better in the 5K by placing 29th overall and 10th in the women’s division.

• Complete Run Thru History results

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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