Kevin Dorsey, of Memphis, crosses the finish line in front of the Walking Horse Hotel to win the 30th annual Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run Saturday in Wartrace. (T-G Photo by John Philleo) [Order this photo]

With a facial expression somewhere between a grin and a grimace, Kevin Dorsey chugged across the finish line to win the 30th annual Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run in Wartrace Saturday.

Dorsey, from Memphis, finished the race in 4 hours, 54 minutes and 10 seconds. He will take home $500 in prize money.

"It feels fantastic," Dorsey said after cooling off in a fountain and catching his breath. "It's one of my favorite ultras. It's a beautiful course."

Not exactly a stroll, the race is 41.2 miles long. Any race longer than a 26.2-mile marathon is considered an ultra.

It was Dorsey's fourth consecutive time running the Strolling Jim. He has been running for seven years, and this was his first ultra victory.

"I really appreciated my parents (Bill and Katy Dorsey)," who gave him water, food and encouragement every few miles. "I couldn't have won without them crewing for me."

Matt Aguero, from Lawton, Okla., gave Dorsey a run for his money, but finished second with a time of 5:02:03.

Aguero took a 20-second lead with about three miles left in the race, but with a mile left to go, his quadracep muscles locked up, forcing him to walk.

"Not because I wanted to, but because I had to," he said. "I didn't think I was going to finish."

David Jones, of Eagleville, cools off in a Wartrace fountain after winning the Master's division of the Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run. The Master's division is for racers 45 and older. Jones, 56, finished third overall. (T-G Photo by John Philleo) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Race director Philip Gentry was thrilled at the way the race turned out.

"We didn't set a course record, but we had, in the ultra world, what might be called a photo finish because the lead changed in the last mile," Gentry said. "In the ultra world, that's pretty tight."

The record time is 3 hours, 59 minutes and change, set by Canadian Andy Jones in 1991.

The race was broken into two classifications for each gender based on age. Runners who were 45 or older were in the Master's classification. Racers under 45 were in the Open classification.

Strolling Jim veteran David Jones, 56, won the men's Master's division with a time of 5:09:40 and finished third overall.

Jones, of Eagleville, has run the race 20 times. He has won it twice and the Master's division 11 times.

Susan Lance, of Whitesburg, Ga., won the women's Open division with a time of 6:40:12. She will take home $500. Chrissy Ferguson, of Conway, Ark., won the women's Master's division with a time of 7:27:39.

The 2,000th finisher of the Strolling Jim was Chris Triko, of Knoxville, who will take home a trophy memorializing that event.

The race began in front of the Walking Horse Hotel under stormy skies, said Gentry, as the trekkers stepped off at 5 a.m. Trekkers are racers who run for the fun of it and forfeit their right to win. The official race started at 7 a.m.

"It started out a little dreary and drab, but it turned out to be beautiful for the finish," he said.

Gentry was happy with the participation. A total of 86 runners started the race, up from nearly 70 last year, he said. Sixty-five men and 21 women started the race this year.

"These folks are unique," Gentry said. "This course is not easy. These folks come out here with the intentions of whipping the Jim."

The race, which Gentry described as an established, well-known event, was first held in 1978. It was put together by runners Gary Cantrell, of Wartrace, and John Anderson, of Bell Buckle, after the Atlanta Track Club's 50-mile ultra was shut down.

"They said 'Wow, let's do something else.' Gary laid out a course and John marked it and that was the beginning," Gentry said.

Traditionally, the race began and ended in front of the Walking Horse Hotel, but for several years, the line was drawn elsewhere due to past hotel ownership, Gentry said.

Under the new ownership of Joe Peters, who bought the hotel in July, 2007, the race has been moved back to its traditional starting and finishing point.

"We're happy to do it," said Peters, a Florida native who moved to Wartrace in 2004. "It's part of the town; part of their tradition."

Peters is renovating the hotel and hopes to have it finished in time for the Celebration in August.

"At this point, I think we'll make it," he said.

The race's namesake, Strolling Jim, was the first World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse. Floyd Carothers rode Strolling Jim to victory in 1939 at the first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville. The horse died in 1954 and is buried in a pasture behind the Walking Horse Hotel.

Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Shelbyville contributed $1,000 in prize money for the event.