Rocket City Half Marathon M15-19: Roman Hanson Runs Away With It in the Cold

• Roman Hanson, 17, wins the M15-19 age group in 1:21:29 (6:13/mi), more than 27 seconds clear of runner-up John Litavec.
• Hanson and Litavec, both from Madison, AL, went 1-2 in the age group — teammates racing each other across 13.1 miles in 29°F wind-whipped conditions.
• The tightest battle: Andrew Walker and Lucas Israel, both of Huntsville, finished 9th and 10th in 1:31:45 and 1:31:46 — separated by a single second.
• 28 finishers completed the M15-19 race, with a spread of nearly 30 minutes from first to 20th place.

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Twenty-nine degrees and a 16 mph wind greeted 28 teenage boys in Huntsville on Sunday morning, and Roman Hanson treated it like a tailwind. The 17-year-old from Madison ran 6:13 per mile from start to finish, winning the M15-19 age group in 1:21:29 and climbing four spots in the men's field over the back half — from 14th to 10th among the men — to close with the 9th-fastest split of anyone on the 6.8-mile-to-finish stretch. That's not just winning a age group; that's racing with the field's elite.

His Madison teammate John Litavec, 16, was right there early, sitting 9th among the men at the midpoint before fading slightly to 12th by the finish. His 1:21:56 was a strong run in its own right — 6:15/mi — but Hanson had already put 27 seconds of clear air between them. Cesar Rico, 18, making the trip from Baton Rouge, rounded out the podium in 1:24:51, with Jackson Obie of Williamsburg, VA just 19 seconds back in 4th (1:25:10). Dylan Maher of Savannah closed out the top five in 1:26:05, though he was one of the few in the top group who lost ground in the men's field over the final stretch, sliding from 18th to 21st.

The real drama deeper in the field came from the Huntsville locals. Andrew Walker and Lucas Israel ran nearly identical races all the way to the line — Walker crossing in 1:31:45, Israel one second later in 1:31:46 for 9th and 10th. One second over 13.1 miles in freezing temperatures. Meanwhile, the 15-year-olds showed up in force: Owen Bradley led that contingent in 11th at 1:37:10, with Javier Bayola, Landon Gannaway, Jude Salamone, Jack Willits, Chase Larson, Zeke Johns, and Andrew Keown all finishing within the hour-and-a-half-to-two-hour range. A deep, competitive age group that earned every minute of it.