NATCHEZ &8212; Despite the expectation of heavy rain, the 28th annual Natchez Regional Medical Center River City Classic went on as scheduled Saturday morning in the streets of downtown Natchez.

And while it rained at times leading up to the start of the 10K run, it wasn&8217;t the drenching downpours that were predicted that could have made not only the run but also the 5K walk very different. The rain stopped 15 minutes before both of those events started and didn&8217;t start again, albeit light, until they were over.

That was fine for Rob Oates of Flowood and Yolanda Brown of Jackson, each of whom became two-time champions in the men&8217;s and women&8217;s 10K (6.2 mile) run, respectively despite the damp, cool and windy conditions.

Oates won the men&8217;s 10K run for the second time in three years &8212; he also won in 2004 &8212; with a time of 35 minutes and 41 seconds, just 27 seconds slower than his winning time two years ago.

Oates had a little extra motivation to go out there and win for someone special.

&8220;I found out (earlier) this week that my coach, Doug Parcells, has a brain tumor. I ran for him today,&8221; Oates said. &8220;I&8217;m so thankful the rain held off. Once again, I&8217;m never disappointed in the race. Natchez does a good job getting the schools involved. I wish more races were like the one here in Natchez.&8221;

Alan Gerstle, the 2003 men&8217;s 10K champion, finished second overall and first in the men&8217;s 35-39 age group with a time of 36:26. Natchez native and Nashville, Tenn., resident David Hefley finished third overall and first in the men&8217;s 25-29 age group with a time of 38:12

&8220;I was happy with the time I did,&8221; Hefley said. &8220;I&8217;ll be back next year. The rain cooled things off. It made for good running weather.&8221;

Brown became the first back-to-back women&8217;s 10K champion since Katherine Turner of Monroe, La. in 1994 and 1995. Brown crossed the finish line in a time of 44:36, over a minute slower than last year.

&8220;It feels pretty good,&8221; Brown said about winning for the second straight year. &8220;I thought the weather would affect the race, but it didn&8217;t. I was shooting for between 43 and 44, so I was a little off. There was a wind factor.&8221;

Dona Lee Andrews of Madison finished second with a time of 46:04, and Heidi Melia was third at 46:15. Mary Lorenz of Jackson, the 2004 women&8217;s 10K champion, finished first in the women&8217;s 50-54 age group with a time of 48:44.

Robert Lee Uden of Natchez, the 1991 men&8217;s 5K walk champion, participated in the 10K run and finished first in the men&8217;s 30-34 age group with a time of 38:24, which was good enough for fourth place overall.

Bill Byrne of Natchez won the men&8217;s 50-54 age group with a time of 46:23.

&8220;If it was hot, it would be OK,&8221; Byrne said. &8220;But being that it&8217;s cold, we&8217;re going to have to call this run a character builder.&8221;

Mack Varner of Vicksburg, who was one of several runners and walkers who game down to support the race and has run in 87 marathons and/or ultras (anything over 26 miles), didn&8217;t have any complaints about the weather and finished first in the men&8217;s 60-64 age group with a time of 48:57.

However, 5K walk men&8217;s defending champion David Chaney, also from Vicksburg, was too fond of the weather before the 10K and 5K began.

&8220;Good weather for frogs,&8221; Chaney said. &8220;We&8217;ve done it before when it&8217;s cold, but not when it&8217;s raining. We&8217;re just going to try to survive the rain.&8221;

Chaney still didn&8217;t let the slick streets bother him at all as he won the men&8217;s 5K walk for the second straight year with a time of 30:50, which was second overall.

&8220;No one&8217;s more surprised than me,&8221; Chaney said. &8220;Very surprised. I hadn&8217;t trained very hard this winter. It (the course) wasn&8217;t too bad. I was glad the wind and the rain held off.&8221;

Tina Brown, also from Vicksburg, won the women&8217;s 5K walk with a time of 30:45, which was good enough for first place overall in that event.

&8220;I was happy. But I was a little slower than I was last year,&8221; Brown said. &8220;I didn&8217;t train as much as I should. It was a little bad in certain spots.&8221;

One familiar no-show in the 5K was four-time women&8217;s champion Debbie Cheney, also from Vicksburg.

&8220;We&8217;d rather her be here, even if she does win all the time,&8221; Chaney said.

&8220;I miss her,&8221; Brown said. &8220;I did my training with her. We&8217;re good friends.&8221;

Unfortunately, the weather did put somewhat of a damper on the one-mile run. Last year nearly 330 children participated in this event.

This year there were 184 participants.

But those who were in the one-mile run had a good time and most of those who finished in the top three of their respected age groups had times of under 10 minutes.

Jardarius Ealey was the male overall winner with a time of 6:43 and Kristen B. Lipsey was the female overall winner at 7:14.