Gabe Henneberger and Karmin Luders sped to top honors in the sixth annual Smoke Rise half-marathon to kick off the summer trail running season.
Henneberger, 24, of Huntsville, won the two-loop jaunt around the Blevins Gap Nature Preserve trail. He finished in 1:55:43, the second-best time in event history. He was 13 seconds off the record. Christopher Hare, 38, of Decatur, was second in 2:15.
Luders, 17, of Owens Cross Roads, finished eighth and won the women’s title in 2:32:27. That puts her third in the records list for the half. Milena Arthur, 48, of McCall, Idaho, was second (10th) in 2:38, good for seventh on the records list.
The half, a 10K and 5K are put on by RunningLane and jump-start the summer season. June 20 is the kickoff for the four-event Wild Thangs series at Monte Sano State Park. Thirty-five runners from six states, including Montana and Idaho, finished the half.
From the Blevins Gap preserve parking lot, the fields headed right to the top of Green Mountain. The juicy climb gets the blood pumping before things level out for the dash to the radio tower. After a zig-zag down from the tower, there’s a little jaunt through the woods to a rocky descent before heading back up (rocky!) to the parking lot. Half-marathoners did two loops, with one for the 10K.
See all of the half-marathon results here.
Smoke Rise 10K
McKinley Zimmerman claimed a two-minute win in the 10K race, with Ashley Pearce claiming the women’s title with a T10 finish.
Zimmerman, 19, of Franklin, Tenn., dashed around the course in 57:55 for top honors. Daniel Leonard, 42, of Grant, was second in 59:49.
Pearce, 38, of Madison, was ninth overall in 1:09:10, seventh-best in the record list. Mary Ann Koch, 56, of Huntsville was second (11th) in 1:10:49.
The race had 72 finishers from six states including Ohio and Kentucky. See all of the 10K results here.
Smoke Rise 5K
Eric Hoover and Mark Wells, the defending 5K champ, banged it out to the wire with a sprint that Hoover won by two seconds.
Hoover, 28, of Huntsville, finished in 27:04 while Wells, 38, of Phil Campbell, crossed in 27:06. Their times are fourth and fifth in the records, with Wells also holding second- and third-place on the list. Wells alsowas second in 2024.
Amelia Allan, 12, of Huntsville, and Audrey Allan, 12, tied for third and shared the women’s title. They finished in a 5K record of 29:58.
See all of the 5K results here.
