Men's Race: David Too Wins Rocket City in 2:27:40

• Too's decisive move: Running in 2nd through the halfway point, Too seized the lead between the half and 31K and never looked back, finishing in 2:27:40 at a 5:38/mi average — nearly five minutes clear of the field.
• Whitehead's comeback: Josh Whitehead, who won this race in 2022 in 2:33:21, dropped as far back as 5th before storming home with the 3rd-fastest closing split (31K to finish) to reclaim the runner-up spot in 2:32:18 — improving on his winning time from two years prior.
• Lemon's consistency: Chris Lemon held 3rd from the 10K onward to finish in 2:34:15, replicating his runner-up result from 2022 (2:35:59) with a faster time this year.
• Warm-weather grind: At 70°F, 76% humidity, and a 17 mph wind, the back half of a 582-man field was a war of attrition — only 20 men broke 2:52:03.

David Too ran a controlled, calculating race. He sat in 2nd through the opening 10K and held that position all the way to the halfway mark before making his defining move between the half and 31K, vaulting to the lead and posting the fastest men's split on that segment in the process. From there it was a solo march to the tape — 2:27:40 at 5:38/mi, a performance that left the rest of the men's field well in his wake.

Behind him, the real drama was Josh Whitehead's charge. The 45-year-old Madison, AL native had won Rocket City in 2022 and found himself buried in 5th place at the halfway point. He answered with the 3rd-fastest closing leg in the men's field — a relentless push from 31K to the finish — to land 2nd in 2:32:18. That's a faster time than the 2:33:21 that earned him the win two years ago, which makes the silver medal sting just a little. Chris Lemon of Dayton, OH was the model of steadiness: 4th at 10K, 3rd by the half, 3rd at the finish in 2:34:15 — also improving on his own 2022 runner-up clocking of 2:35:59.

John Gilpin (2:35:10) and Samuel Haynes (2:36:14) rounded out the top five, with Haynes moving up from 7th at the halfway point to claim 5th by the finish. The conditions — warm, humid, and breezy for December in Alabama — made every minute of the back half hard-earned, and the gaps between places 6 through 10 compressed into just over two minutes across five runners, telling the story of a field that fought the weather as much as each other.