Race CANCELLED: Mother Nature Gets The Best Of The Rocket City Marathon As Annual Event Cancelled

HUNTSVILLE- For the first time in the 45-year history of the Rocket City Marathon the race activities of the annual event were cancelled after severe weather rumbled across the Tennessee Valley around the scheduled time of the race on Dec. 11. Race officials knew of damage along the course and with numerous power outages in the immediate area, which were part of the deciding factors on the event cancellation.

The event activities included the 26.2-mile marathon race, a half-marathon race, team relays and kid’s marathon.

“In addition to the weather conditions and its aftermath, resources and personnel were strained to the point that runner safety was in jeopardy,” said race co-director Dwayne DeBardelaben. “It’s an unbelievable disappointment. You can take the disappointment that each runner felt and magnify it by 100.”

After much consideration on all aspects of the day’s events and the resources needed to safely and properly operate a large magnitude sporting event, the 2021 race was called off and will not be rescheduled. DeBardelaben and his wife, Dana, who is race co-director, tabulated all possible information from the course, spoke with law enforcement and officials of the Huntsville Sports Commission before making their decision.

The Huntsville Sports Commission issued a news release of the decision to cancel the activities. The release read, “We know that this comes as an enormous disappointment, not only to the runners, but to the sponsors, spectators, volunteers and running community as a whole. This decision was not a decision we have taken lightly. The Rocket City Marathon team and Huntsville Police Department have worked closely with the National Weather Service over the past 48 hours monitoring the situation. The safety for all those involved is and will continue to be our top priority.”

Race officials quickly turned their attention to the planning for the 2022 scheduled race that DeBardelaben said, “Will be even bigger than ever before.” He added, “Next year we will have a two-day event instead of the traditional single day activity.”

Close to 1,200 runners from all across the country were registered to participate in the annual race through the streets of Huntsville including 110 from Madison set to run the marathon course and 80 Madison residents who chose to run in the half-marathon event, which overall had 714 registered.

The Rocket City Marathon began in 1977 as a flagship event for the newly founded Huntsville Track Club. Through growth and course changes, the event became known as one of the most popular marathons among elite runners as the course was certified and is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon and served as a host marathon for the RRCA State Marathon Championship. The inaugural race was won by Huntsville native Steve Bolt and led to the surge in the local running community.