Record breaking 49th running of Rocket City Marathon this weekend

MADISON- The 2025 Rocket City Marathon Race Weekend marks a historic high for the event which is the 49th edition of the famed 26.2mile jaunt through many sections of Huntsville, starting and finishing in downtown at the Von Braun Center. A record high 5,200 runners, 1,772 of whom will tackle the main marathon race, have registered for the three-day event this Friday-Sunday.

In his first year as race director, Eric Fritz, longtime volunteer and past president of the Huntsville Track Club, which along with the Huntsville Sports Commission are presenting the race weekend, said, “Running a marathon requires commitment, resilience and heart, and this year, we’re running for a cause as this is the first time the marathon has focused on one charity, though the race has donated to numerous charities through the long history of the annual race. This year we have established an official charitable relationship and have done so with the Huntsville Hospital Foundation. We have entered into a long-term philanthropic collaboration designed to support pediatric patients across our area. By supporting pediatric patients through this partnership, we hope to extend that same spirit of dedication beyond this race weekend.”

The statistics for the 2025 race weekend are staggering. Runners representing 48 states have registered with South Dakota and Hawaii the only states without a participant and, besides the United States, five countries will have representatives in the race weekend festivities. The countries include South Africa, China, Mexico, Andorra and the once closed communist country of Albania. The number of participants registered is up more than 1,200 from last year. The breakdown of events include the 1,772 for the marathon, plus 1,745 for the half-marathon, 672 for the 10K, 750 for the 5K and another 280, including participants as young as two-years old, set for the 1-mile fun run. Overall, race participants range in ages of two to 82.

The 35-member race committee along with the 750 volunteers, who are the life-blood of the race weekend, have put together a fun-filled weekend of events starting with the diverse Race Expo, which will be held both Friday (2:00-8:00 p.m.) and Saturday (11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) inside the Von Braun Center. This year’s Expo is much more diverse and includes more venders than in past years. It’s free to attend. On Saturday, three races will be held: 10K (7:00 a.m.), 5K (9:00 a.m.) and 1-Mile Fun Run (10:30 a.m.). Sunday’s schedule features the marathon (7:00 a.m.) and half-marathon (9:00 a.m.).

The Von Braun Center has been gracious enough to be the host site for the race weekend, and according to Fritz, “When we moved to the Von Braun Center 10 years ago, this race became big.” He added, “The marathon participants are made up of 65-percent male and 35-percent female with the youngest participants, both 14 years old, one male and one female. Matter of fact, the youngest boy is Ryan Quansah of Madison. Overall for the race weekend, the largest demographic age is the 30’s while the 20’s are second in the participants. We have found out there has been a decrease in age of participants since 2018.”

Overall, 51-percent of those participating are male while 49-percent are female. For the decrease in age demographics, Fritz had his thoughts.

“I attribute that to COVID as that situation got everyone outside and the younger generation seem to get out during that time,” said Fritz. “Typically, the 20-something runners are not your big runners as they building careers, so the 30-something runners are mostly those who have setup careers and families and are now participating. Our demographic was always the 40-year old as the majority have made it through their career and their kids are raised and self-supporting so they can go off and start focusing on something else. Now, there are so many more in their 20’s getting out and running as this virtual lifestyle allows them to get out and do that and not be focused at their desk every day.”

Mark Russell, Executive Director of the Huntsville Sports Commission, said of the marathon race weekend, “The City of Huntsville has been fully behind the event. It’s not been easy, but we’ve all come together as we expect $4-million in an economic impact from the event as the marathon always presents great numbers for Huntsville.”

As for the partnership with the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, the hard work centering around the 49th annual race will bring joy to so many, and not just the children, but to the entire family of those directly benefiting from the Rocket City Marathon.