Rocket City 5K: Dale Wren Dominates the M20-24 Field

• Winner: Dale Wren (Birmingham) crossed in 25:03 at an 8:04/mi clip — a full 1:21 ahead of runner-up Nate Bryan.
• Podium gap: The top three were separated by just over three minutes, with Dallas Baker rounding out the podium in 28:10.
• Mid-pack cluster: Six of the ten finishers landed between 36:48 and 38:33 — a tight 1:45 window across 5th through 10th place.
• Conditions: A 29°F morning with 16 mph winds in Huntsville made every second earned the hard way.

In a ten-man M20-24 field, Dale Wren left little room for debate. The 24-year-old from Birmingham ran 25:03 at 8:04 per mile — the kind of pace that pulls away early and stays there. Nate Bryan from Madison gave chase and finished a solid second in 26:24 (8:30/mi), but the 1:21 margin between them tells the real story: Wren was in a different gear on this frigid December morning.

Fellow Madison runner Dallas Baker claimed third in 28:10, putting the podium together with a nearly three-minute spread from top to bottom. Behind him, Cameron Shedd of Cullman finished fourth in 29:53, keeping the front half of the field reasonably compact before a noticeable gap opened to fifth-place Keanan Cartee, who crossed in 34:09 — more than four minutes back.

From there, the race settled into its densest stretch. Jakub Slowik, Marc Labrador, Brandon Mills, Simon Rentfrow, and Evan McAteer finished 6th through 10th in a span of just 1:45, with Slowik leading that group home in 36:48 and McAteer closing it out in 38:33. At sub-freezing temperatures with a stiff wind, finishing the course was its own achievement — and all ten men in the M20-24 group did exactly that.