Madison’s Brandon York Wins Rocket City Marathon

HUNTSVILLE- For the second time in the 43-year history of the Rocket City Marathon, a runner from Madison crossed the finish line as overall winner. Brandon York did the honors with a winning time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 37 seconds. York will have his name etched in Madison sports history alongside Josh Whitehead the 2013 marathon race winner as the two from the nearby community to take race winnings.

“This was a dream come true as I’ve always wanted to win this race and it means a lot to win the hometown marathon,” said York, of winning the marathon in his first attempt. “I would have loved to run the old course the marathon had for several years. My goal was to win this race with a 5:28 pace.”

York, 33, took the race victory by more than five minutes over runner-up Sam Mueller, 26, of Auburn. York, a design engineer for Penta Research and former cross country and track athlete at UAH, led the race wire-to-wire to take home the $1,000 first place prize. He attributes his success to consistency of a training regimen with the help of his running coach, Will Rogers of Running Lane.

“My training for the marathon was a nine-week, 57 miles per week workout on the streets of Madison,” said York. “I feel like I have run all the roads in Madison. I think the new race directors did a fantastic job with the event and crossing the finish line inside the Von Braun Center arena before a great crowd was certainly awesome.”

Race time weather conditions were horrendous with the temperature at 41 degrees along with rain, fog and a heavy mist. According to the National Weather Service in Huntsville, the wind chill was 36 degrees with a northeast wind at 8 miles per hour.

The raw conditions did not stop the more than 1,000 participants to take to the streets of the Rocket City for the annual trek. In all, 917 completed the course with the last official runner crossing the finish line with a time of 6:05:08.

The top female runner from Madison was Julia Donovan. The 34-year old completed the course with a time of 3:25:14 at least 21 minutes ahead of Rachel Negron, 41, who was second from Madison in 3:46:55. The overall female winner was Alana Scarano of Huntsville with a finish time of 2:49:55.

“I felt good until the 22-23-mile point when I began suffering from leg cramps as I feel the cold temperatures played a big part on how I finished,” said Donovan, who works for Fleet Feet of Huntsville. “Finishing in first place from the runners from Madison is always a nice feeling and I’m happy to represent the participants from our city in the race.”

There were 51 runners from Madison to complete the race in what many considered grueling weather conditions. Twenty-three of those from Madison crossing the finish line were female. The youngest was 22-year old Maryclaire Knapp (4:42:58) while the eldest was 61-year old David Hergenroeder (3:59:39).

Donovan’s husband, Ryan, also ran the race, but had a rough day being unable to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but did finish the race with a time of 3:16:00.

Donovan graduated from Bob Jones High in 2003 where she participated on the school’s cross country team and played the saxophone in the school band. The just completed race was her sixth Rocket City and 14^th overall marathon race.

The event got underway at 7:00 a.m., but Donovan came close to not making it to the start line on time.

“I went to the bathroom and the stall door jammed locked. I had to crawl underneath the stall to get out,” said Donovan with a chuckle. “I had two goals for the race. The first was to finish under 3:20 while the second was to establish a time to qualify for the 2019 Boston Marathon. Ryan had the same goal of reaching Boston, so we’re trying to work on getting his time.”

The Rocket City Marathon was hosted by the Huntsville Track Club and also featured a half-marathon distance race for the first time in race history. The overall race winner was Madison’s Josh Whitehead, 40, (1:13:17) while Abigail Key, 29, was first female from Madison to complete the half-marathon distance with a time of 1:50:57.

The annual event also included the last mile of a children’s marathon training program, which began months ago. The race included hundreds of volunteers, whom made for an enjoyable event no matter what the weather conditions.

“I really appreciated the volunteers, especially those who braved the rain and cold,” said Donovan. “They gave a nice positive energy boost to those of us who ran.”