30th annual Tallahatchie River Run -

The 30th Annual Tallahatchie River Run drew more than 300 participants to downtown New Albany, Saturday morning, Sept. 28.

Runners came from several Mississippi counties. There were several participants from Tennessee and one runner came from Smyrna, Georgia, a drive of nearly five hours, about 300 miles via Interstates 20 and 22.

Local Fireman Allen Elder was one of several who ran the race in full gear.

Temperatures were perhaps a little warmer than usual for late September. The races started at 8 a.m. in front of BNA Bank, the run’s principal sponsor. BNA receives the entries via a special website, manages the event, and posts the results on the website.

(l-r) Nancy Kidd, of Baptist Hospital-Union County; local businessman, Dan Skinner; Bo Collins, BNA Bank President.

The run is also sponsored by Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County. Baptist sponsors the one-mile “Kids Get Healthy Challenge’ and furnishes first aid and standby ambulance service for the event.

In the 5K event of the 30th annual Tallahatchie River Run, the best female finisher was Diana Garcia, age 30, of New Albany with a time of 22:33.

The number one male runner in the 5K was Ryoma Ando, age 25, from Columbus, MS, who finished the five kilometers in 18:15.

In the Baptist one-mile “Kids Get Healthy” race, Lily Kate Johnson, age 11, from New Albany, finished first with a time of 6:38. She was just 32 seconds behind the top male, Jaxon Herod, age 10, from Etta, MS, who finished the mile in 6:06.