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The annual St. Paddy's Day 5K in Jackson was held on Satuday, March 20 with well over 1000 people participating. Over 800 were runners and the rest were race walkers and one-milers. We all lined up on State Street near the Old Capitol Building at 8:00 a.m. on a beautiful morning and waited for Jack to give us the signal to start. With such a large number of runners it is easy to get caught up in the congestion, which can make for a slow start. The 5K run turned into a two person race with William Kazery and Max Holman fighting it out. Holman managed to pull out the win with an impressive 16.04. Andy Till took the Masters and Jim George won the Grand Masters. Carlos Prevost was the Senior Masters winner. Jim George is not only a person with two first names, but he is an extremely nice guy as well. After winning his large trophy and posing for the pictures, he gave the trophy to a small boy who was nearby. That is real sportsmanship and something to be admired. Christina Winstead was the female winner. Diane Mayberry and Vicki Alexander took Masters and Grand Masters honors. Bonnie Burks was the Senior Masters winner. The Pine Belt Pacers were well represented at this race. The Henderson family cjontinues to do well. Jennifer won her age group in the race walk division. Ray was second in a very fast age group, and Bo and Ashlyn ran well in the one-mile run. Phillip Wedgeworth was first in his age group. After the race we had good food and drink. We had cookies, pizza, soft drinks, sports drinks, and pleny of good old water. For the awards ceremony we were honored to have one of the Sweet Potato Queens to hand out the awards. Note that in the pictures that Murray Collum got a little carried away with the Queen. This is one of the largest Grand Prix events for the Mississippi Track Club, and it is definitely one to put on the calendar. After the race, people can hang around for the wildest parade in Mississippi, The Mal's St. Paddy's Day Parade.
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