Rocket City Marathon 5K — M50-54: Tillman dominates the fifties

• Jermon Tillman won the M50-54 group in 22:12 (7:09/mi), finishing 1:25 ahead of runner-up Vicente Rivera.
• The top two separated themselves clearly from the field — 3rd-place Scot Davis crossed in 26:10, nearly 3 minutes behind Rivera.
• A tight mid-pack battle unfolded between 4th and 10th, with Michael Tomaka (28:51) through Scott Perry (38:50) spread across just over 10 minutes of racing.
• 15 men finished in the M50-54 group on a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast, solid conditions for fast running.

Jermon Tillman of Montgomery put on a commanding performance, running 7:09/mi to claim the M50-54 title by a clear margin. Vicente Rivera, racing in his home city of Madison, held second throughout and crossed in 23:37 — a respectable 7:36/mi pace — but never had an answer for Tillman's early tempo. Scot Davis, making the trip from Houston, rounded out the podium in 26:10, finishing well clear of the chase pack behind him.

From 4th through 10th, the race told a different story — a grinding, honest contest where every minute mattered. Michael Tomaka (28:51), Hiroki Tanoue (30:51), and Gurjit Singh (32:45) each pushed through the back half of the field, while Clint Walker, Brad Hunt, Vernon Atchison, and Scott Perry filled out the 36–38-minute range with gutsy, hard-fought finishes.

Eric French (43:54), Yukio Ito (46:22), Robert Youngren (51:11), and Chris Spann (53:07) closed out the group, with the two youngest men in the field — Youngren and Spann, both 50 — finishing 14th and 15th. Tillman, at 52, proved age is no barrier to the front of the pack in this group.