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Kelsie Rost crosses the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Rost finished ninth overall in the 5K race walk, with a time of 39:25. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Anthony Polo heads toward the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Polo won the race with a time of 19:58. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Ron Roma closes in on the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. The Vicksburg resident won the overall championship in the 5K race walk for the second time in three years, with a time of 31:47. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg resident Lucy Priddy won the women's 5K race walk championship at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Priddy clocked a time of 36:02 to win the event's women's title for the third year in a row. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners and walkers take off at the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Jessica Callaway walks with her dog at the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Will Pittman and Jamie Pittman start the Star Spangled Night Run 5K Saturday night in downtown Vicksburg. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation director Stacey Mahoney holds up some glow sticks before the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. The event is a fundraiser for the SCHF. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Steve Pranger comes across the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. The Vicksburg resident finished second overall in the 5K race walk with a time of 33:48. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Matthew Storey uses a headlamp to light the way as he comes to the finish line of the star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vera Ann Fedell approaches the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Lindsay Carruth (79) sprints toward the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The 6th annual Star Spangled Night Run 5K was a test of endurance and survival as much as it was a race.

Except to Anthony Polo. He made it look easy.

On a hot, humid evening when the sticky, oppressive air slowed everything to a crawl, Polo ran fast to crush the field and win the overall title at Vicksburg’s summer road race. The 24-year-old from Meridian clocked a time of 19 minutes, 58 seconds, which was more than three minutes ahead of runner-up Carl Bryant.

Bryant finished in 23:09. Jamie Trichell was third in 23:59, Peyton Davidson fourth in 24:45 and Ronnie Hood fifth in 24:59.

“It was a good start, and then in the middle of the course the uphill section really makes a runner debate whether you want to slow your speed down or walk it, and how you want to make up that time. I just kept going,” Polo said.

Polo, who was in town visiting family, said running is one of his hobbies, and this was his first victory in a 5K.

“I’ve never won a 5K. There are runners much more experienced than me,” he said. “I run to stay in shape. I run as a hobby. It’s a stress relief for me. It’s an odd thing to say. Running and pushing yourself, making yourself sweat and breathe heavy is a stress relief.”

Abigail DeJesus, a 15-year-old Vicksburg resident, won the women’s 5K championship with a time of 26:13. The rising sophomore at Warren Central was seventh overall.

Another teenager, 13-year-old Cora Lindsay, was second in the women’s division and 10th overall in 27:40.

“Not fast, but not slow,” DeJesus said of her winning time.

In the 5K race walk, Ron Roma and Lucy Priddy both added another Star Spangled Night Run trophy to their collections.

Roma crossed the finish line in 31:47 to win the overall title for the second time in three years. Priddy was fifth overall in 36:02 to claim the women’s championship for the third year in a row.

“I did a real good time,” Roma said. “About mile two, I was tired. When you make the turn from Chambers to Cherry, it’s about three-quarters of a mile to go. I was looking for an oxygen tank.”

Finishing between Roma and Priddy were Steve Pranger in second in 33:48, Lee Fore in 35:27 and Andrew McCaskill in 35:55.

Ella Kate Boone was sixth overall and second in the women’s division in 38:26, about 2 1/2 minutes behind Priddy.

“I didn’t go out too hard that first mile going up East Avenue. That’s where I usually wear myself out, but I held back until the second mile. That was the way to go,” Priddy said. “It was a little too hot, a little too humid to try to get a good time. My goal was to survive.”

Priddy’s last thought echoed that of a lot of the 101 runners and walkers who braved the nearly 90-degree heat and high humidity to challenge the 5-kilometer course through downtown Vicksburg.

Even though the race started at 8 p.m. under cloudy skies, there was no relief when the sun set midway through the race. Every participant was drenched in sweat by the time they crossed the finish line.

“The humidity was real bad tonight. I got about to mile two and I was ready to pack it in,” Roma joked. “I was looking for a cold beer. Look at everybody. We’re soaked.”

MORE: COMPLETE STAR SPANGLED NIGHT RUN 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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