Do you like animals? Do you like a challenge? Are you ready to try something a little different?

If your answer is “yes” to all three of those questions, then I’ve got something for you.

The Natchez-Adams County Humane Society and Historic Jefferson College are teaming up to offer a twist on the traditional 5K run. We’re going to have a 5K alright, but it won’t be on the even, easy streets of Natchez. Nope, on Saturday, Jan. 10, we’re going to have a 5K Trail Run for the Animals, utilizing HJC’s nature trails and other property. It may be muddy, it may be slippery, it’s pretty steep, and definitely rugged — but isn’t that part of the fun? You can help raise money to help our Humane Society in their quest for a much-needed new shelter, and you get to experience nature first hand.

You may hear one of the five species of woodpeckers we have out here, or see a deer scrape on a sapling. Maybe you’ll spot an armadillo rustling through the leaves, or any number of other critters that call our grounds home. Thankfully, since it’s January, one group of animals you are unlikely to see are the snakes.

In addition to animals, there are bubbling streams with bridges, St. Catherine Creek, a “two-man” cemetery, our beautiful little pond, and gorgeous overlooks by deep ravines.

You’ll get to run or walk along a path that is covered with fallen oak and giant sycamore leaves, surrounded by evergreen magnolias, muscadine vines, and American beech trees that keep their golden leaves through the winter. You’ll also pass by unusual man-made things: a concrete “swimming” hole, deep in the woods, built for the cadets of Jefferson Military College 80 years ago; and the remains of Assembly Hall, where our state territorial legislators used to meet in the early 1800s. You’ll be winding around buildings built from 1819-1937, and along Old North Street, which was one of the original streets of Washington when it was laid out in 1794. You’ll go under our massive live oaks that drip with Spanish moss, and pass a monument that commemorates when and where our state’s constitution was signed — right there on the grounds of Jefferson College—in 1817.

We are also in need of volunteers to help with this event. If you can man a water/direction station, or help with registration, time keeping or scoring, please let us know. One last thing —since this is an event to benefit animals, please feel free to bring yours (on a leash), and let them experience the trail as well.

The 5K Trail Run for the Animals will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10. The registration fee is $20, and all participants will get a t-shirt. Refreshments will follow the race, which is open to both walkers and runners.

For more information, contact Deanne Tanksley at deannetanksley@me.com or 601-807-2997, or Robin Person at info@historicjeffersoncollege.com or 662-515-0490.

The registration form may also be downloaded from the HJC Facebook site.

 

Robin Person is the director of Historic Jefferson College.