Photo Gallery: Star Spangled Night Run 5K

Published 11:09 am Sunday, June 23, 2024

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Lanie Clarke (1317) and Mindy Clarke (586) take a photo together at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Jay Barnhart waits for the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners and walkers get some final instructions before the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday night. Nearly 100 people participated in the race, which is a fundraiser for the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Race walkers take off at the starting line for the Star Spangled Night Run 5K Saturday night in downtown Vicksburg. Nearly 100 people participated in the race, which is a fundraiser for the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners and walkers take off at the starting line for the Star Spangled Night Run 5K Saturday night in downtown Vicksburg. Nearly 100 people participated in the race, which is a fundraiser for the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Will Bates won the Star Spangled Night Run 5K run on Saturday. Bates, a rising junior at Warren Central, won with a time of 19:04. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Derek Moore and Maura Breeland play a game of cornhole at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Korben Breeland hurls a beanbag toward the target during a game of cornhole at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Topher Brown and Marvin Curtis, the band Keys vs. Strings, plays for the crowd at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

A wall of patriotic balloons provided a photo backdrop for participants at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Runners and walkers mill about on Crawford Street before the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday night. Nearly 100 people participated in the race, which is a fundraiser for the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Ron Roma (1198) leads a pack of runners and walkers off the starting line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Roma won the 5K race walk with a time of 32:45. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Ron Roma (1198) grabs a cup of water at the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Roma won the 5K race walk with a time of 32:45. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Will Bates crosses the finish line to win the Star Spangled Night Run 5K run on Saturday. Bates, a rising junior at Warren Central, won with a time of 19:04. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Cora Lindsay crosses the finish line to win the Star Spangled Night Run's women's 5K championship on Saturday. Lindsay, a rising sophomore at Warren Central, won with a time of 24:31.(Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Medals for the Star Spangled Night Run 5K sit on a table before the race on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Anthony Streif crosses the finish line in third place at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Streif had a time of 23:52. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's cross country team poses for a photo before the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Six of the top 10 finishers in the 5K run, including overall champion Will Bates and women's champion Cora Lindsay, were members of the team. (Submitted to The Vicksburg Post)

Race walker Steve Pranger (1939) heads out from the starting line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Roma won the 5K race walk with a time of 32:45. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

George Rice and Madalyn Monton (1993) cross the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K race walk on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Ben Hudgens (1331) and Lydia Edwards (1379) cross the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K race walk on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation continued an early-summer tradition with its 7th annual Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday.

Nearly 100 runners and walkers participated in the race, which starts in front of the Southern Cultural Heritage Center on Crawford Street and then sends runners and race walkers along a course through downtown Vicksburg as the sun sets around them.

The event was started in 2018 as a fundraiser for the SCHF and has been held in mid-June each year since.

In addition to the race, this year’s event included a street festival. The band Keys vs. Strings played while racegoers took pictures in front of a patriotic backdrop, played cornhole in the SCHC’s courtyard, children played in a bouncy house, and a food truck sold dinner.

Will Bates was the overall champion in the 5K run, with a time of 19 minutes, 4 seconds. Cora Lindsay won the women’s championship in 24:31. Both are members of Warren Central’s cross country team, which placed six runners in the top 10.

Ron Roma was the overall winner of the 5K race walk, with a time of 32:45, and Terrie Foster won the women’s title and was second overall in 35:23. Roma won the race for the second year in a row, and third time in four years.

MORE COVERAGE
• Bates, Lindsay lead pack of Warren Central runners at Night Run 5K
• Complete Star Spangled Night Run 5K race 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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