For 72-year-old Bill Stevens, Saturday’s Over the River Run was a much easier event than his last race. On Oct. 7, Stevens ran in the Chicago Marathon.

A clear, mild day in Vicksburg welcomed Stevens and 355 other participants for the 19th OTRR which was run on an alternate 5K course rather than the standard 5-mile run over the Mississippi River Bridge and back. The new course featured several challenging hills, but for Stevens, it was still an enjoyable run compared to Chicago.

“Running in Chicago was one of the greatest experiences in my life but that was a really brutal race. It was so durn hot, mid 90’s in early October, in Chicago. Something like 300 runners went to the hospital and one died,” said Stevens, of Brandon, who won his 70-72-year age group at the OTRR in 24 minutes, 49 seconds.

No one needed medical care Saturday for the OTRR, and if they did, the start and finish was right at River Region West.

First-year St. Aloysius teacher Dave Mealy was the overall winner, clocking a time of 15:41.

“I moved here in August and I went on the Mississippi Track Club website and found out about the race,” said Mealy of New Middleton, Ohio. Mealy’s last race was in late July at the Pro Football Hall of Fame race in Canton, Ohio.

‘They run it the weekend before the Hall of Fame game and ceremonies,” Mealy said. “It’s a good race. They start and finish at the Hall of Fame, so all you have to look for is the Golden Dome of the Hall of Fame.”

What most runners saw Saturday at the OTRR were hills.

“It was rolling hills. Coming downhill to the finish was nice. It was a pretty legit course,” Mealy said. Since moving to Vicksburg he has spent time training with St. Al’s cross country team which was competing Saturday in Clinton at Choctaw Trails.

“I practice with the cross country team at the National Park a couple of times a week,” added Mealy who teaches geology and American History at St. Al.

Veteran Mississippi Track club runner Mack Varner said the cooler weather made the revised course tolerable.

“Had it been hotter, it would’ve been really miserable,” said Varner, who won his 60-64 year-olds age group. “Today was a great, cool day. We usually run this race over a bridge which is flat, but today we had three major hills that made it a lot harder. The last hill was really hard.”

Yolanda Brown of Ridgeland was the overall female winner in 20:12. This was her first OTRR win. She was third last year and was fourth in the spring’s Run Through History.

“I felt the weather was perfect. I wasn’t all that prepared for the hills but this was a shorter race,” Brown said.

The OTRR continues an excellent 2007 season for Brown, who has run in 25 races this year. “ I think this is the 13th one I’ve won this year. I’ve been running for three years, but I’ve trained better this year.”

Willie Powers, 55, won the male grand masters for the fourth time. He has now run in every one of the 19 OTRRs.

“I kind of like to make this mine,” he said of the OTRR. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was. I like running across the river but we had some good hills to run.”

John Baylot, 51, has also run in 19 straight fall races.

“Today was tougher for me, but if you are going to run in Vicksburg, there are going to be hills. The turnaround hill was the worst one.”

Tina Branan of Vicksburg won the female OTRR 5K walk race for the first time.

“Those were some killer hills,” Branan said. “I’ve always wanted to win this race and this is the first time I’ve done it.”

Branan, who won in 29:45, has won the last two Run Through History walk titles.

David Smalley was the male and overall 5K walk champion in 26:27.