Our favorite Dirty Dozen is a tossup between the TVO year in review and a box of delicious treats from VooDoo Doughnut.
Ah, decisions, decisions. The taste explosion of a Bacon Maple Bar or Old Dirty Bastard vs. the coolest stories of the year? If only VooDoo could overnight so we could enjoy both. It’s been another good year here at TVO. We appreciate you visiting the site, reading our stories and, hopefully, enjoying and sharing them.
Habanero Part 1: Beef Jerky still is a favorite, usually during autumn and winter hunting seasons. TVO co-founder Chad Gay knocked out this tutorial on the popular snack, a fave among many athletes, and it still resonates. Our events calendar and special holiday 5K calendars also are top stops.
Other notable stories include the train trestle collapse that closed the popular Aldridge Creek Greenway. That was just weeks before the annual Boston to Bust marathon and half. The collapse put race directors on scramble alert about possible backup routes. However, the trestle cleanup was uber-fast and the races went off without a hitch.
Readers also enjoyed updates on Dominick Borreggine’s ultra runs, the chase for the Huntsville Slam, and myriad event results. Another bestie was about Megan Allan’s slammin’ win in the 49th Rocket City Marathon. She became just the third Huntsville woman in the last 20 years to win the marathon women’s title.
The Dirty Dozen
Here are the top stories from 2025. We hope you enjoyed them, or perhaps might like to read them now. Happy new year to all!
12. Mickelsen Watching Endless Mile This Year After Setting 72-Hour Record
David Mickelsen was an encourager, cheerleader, supporter and happy smiling face near the finish line of this year’s Endless Mile. A year earlier, he achieved a goal and 72-hour record after fighing some serious health issues that would’ve sidelined many other people. Read the story here
11. Kiprop, Mami Clinch Record Wins in Rocket City Marathon 10K
The 5K is fun, the marathon a mind-slog and the half-marathon somewhere in between. The 10K? It’s six miles that offer a great test of skill and challenge for top runners. This year’s Rocket City Marathon 10K saw two winners who pushed hard the entire way. Read the story here
10. Alabama A&M 5K Results: Cornett, Larsen-Calcano Flatten Chapman Mountain
The Alabama A&M 5K at Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve is a nice trail test with some elevation and go-go-go flat areas. Josh Cornett and Tia Larsen-Calcano smoked the woods in record time for their wins. Read the story here
9. Team Rocket Tri Club Invades PCB for Ironman Weekend
More than 20 members of Huntsville’s nails-tough triathlon club battered Panama City Beach at the big season-ending triathlon. Read the story here
8. 2025 Boston Marathon Finishers from Alabama
The Boston Marathon siren’s song has lured runners for 130 years. Emma Hardman of Madison paced area finishers in the 2025 spring toodle through Beantown. Read the story here
7. Team Redstone Continues Streak With New Trophy at Army Ten-Miler
Team Redstone overcame weather conditions and the government shutdown to still claim a trophy in the annual Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C. Read the story here
6. Zander-Velloso, Allan Winners in Brutally Cold 49th Rocket City Marathon
A win in his marathon debut and the third Huntsville woman in 20 years to take the crown highlighted the 49th Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville. Plans for the iconic race’s golden anniversary are underway. Read the story here
5. Greif Recovering From Surgery After Ironman Crash
A spot of asphalt that should’ve been market. A tire snatch, elbows over teakettle, sirens, surgery. It definitely wasn’t how Rick Greif of Huntsville wanted to spend his triathlon experience, but he recovered and is back in action. Read the story here
4. Mountain Mist 50K Results: Outland, Searels
Held at the end of January, the annual Mountain Mist 50K attracts runners from across the country seeking a finish in this iconic trail ultra. Read the story here
3. Turtlebox Unveils New Ranger
If you love tunes at the beach, picnic table, in the back yard, at the pond fishing, or while working at your desk, this almost-indestructable portable sound system might be what you’re looking for. Read the story here
2. Altra Releases New Lone Peak 9, Lone Peak 9+
Trail runners got a kick out of the news about two new Lone Peak dirt stompers, with the 9+ offering a Vibram Megagrip outsole. Read the story here
1. Bridge Street Half-Marathon — Shifted Underground — a Huge Success
Torrential rain, flooding, lightning … not a good combo for a morning half-marathon. When all that hit last spring for the Bridge Street Half, race organizers shifted it underground into the parking deck. Runners safely made loops in the deck, albeit through some splashy puddles here and there, in one of the most unusual events in memory.
Since then we’ve heard some back-and-forth about this event. We never figured that runners could be such whiny tittybabies about some things, but like anything else there’s always a handful. Here’s our take on the parking deck deal: the Running Lane race directors could’ve shrugged, canceled and kept everyone’s money. Or, they could’ve put their heads together to squeeze a damned big pile of lemons into a gollywhopping tank of lemonade.
All of the finishers have an experience they’ll talk about forever. Who runs any kind of race in a parking deck? Sounds good in theory but, yeah, no one does it. Right? Running Lane did it and pulled it off. Big props to them. (Also, maybe, someone … do a 10K-5K Deck Run!)
This was our most-read story of the year, by far. Read the story here
