Professional runner Reid Buchanan raced to the 46th annual Cotton Row 10K title by more than a minute Monday morning, stretching the 29-minute winning time to its eighth year.
Buchanan, 33, of Kansas City, dashed across the finish line on Church Street in 29:17, a per-mile pace of 4:43. The last eight winners of the race have posted 29-minute times. Record-holder Linus Kiplagat still has the top mark, 28:39, set in 2018. Ryan Ford (2025, 29:04) and Shadrack Keter (2023, 29:01) are the closest to come to the record.
Sarah Crouch, 36, of Madison, won the women’s title and was 18th overall. Crouch carried a 5:47 pace throughout and finished in 35:55. Crouch is no stranger to the spotlight, finishing third in the blustery Ditto Landing 10K last November and winning the women’s Rocket City Marathon “front half-marathon” crown in 2024.
With the Cotton Row title, Buchanan continued his torrid streak over the last six months that includes:
— December, first place in the OUC Orlando Half Marathon, in 1:05:13
— January, first place in the UAE Healthy Kidney 5K in Miami, in 13:53
— early March, fifth place in the Gate River Run 15K in Jacksonville, Florida, in 43:55
— late March, first place in the Capital City Classic 10K in Little Rock, in 29:07
— late April, first place in the Kansas City Trolley Run 4-mile, in 17:35, the top American time since 1998
— early May, first place in the Bloomsday Run 12K in Spokane, in 34:30, the first American Bloomsday winner since John Sinclair in 1986
Sam Chelanga, 41, of Fayetteville, N.C., was second in 30:25. He was second last year, behind Ford, and is a familar face in the Southeast. Chelanga finished eighth in the 2024 Olympic Trials at age 39. Ahmed Ibrahim, 26, of Huntsville, was third in 30:39. Ibrahim competed for the University of Alabama, and previously at Florida State and Boise State.
Emma Hardman, 29, of Huntsville, was second in the women’s division and 25th overall. She finished in 36:23. Hardman won the 2024 Rocket City Marathon women’s crown and has a host of other wins and top finishes. Alina Boschuck, 26, of Willamsburg, Ky., was third in 37:26 (32nd overall).
Chelanga was the Male Masters winner, and Candace Jacobs, 45, of Huntsville, was the Women’s Masters winner. She was 105th in 43:43.
Rob Youngren, 51, of Gurley, was the Male Grandmasters winner (57th, 39:52). Carol Rowe, 52, won the Women’s Grandmasters title (153, 45:18).
See the 10K overall results here and the Age Group T3 results here.
Cotton Row 5K
Kaden Pease was third in last year’s Cotton Row 5K in one of the race’s best finishes in years, with 20 seconds separating the top three runners.
This year, Peace wouldn’t be denied. The 16-year-old from Spring Hill, Tenn., jetted to a 16:25 finish to take the gold. He won by 47 seconds over Erick Kigen, 37, of Huntsville, who crossed in 17:12, with Samuel Hall, 20, of Huntsville, taking third in 17:22.
Sylvia Rylee, 20, of Huntsville, won the women’s crown, finishing 32nd in 20:15. Rachael Matthews, 19, of Hazel Green, was second (49th) in 21:10. They were the only women in the Top 50. Ellie Grace Graves, 13, of Florence, was third (56th) in 21:40.
The race had 1,367 official finishers.
See all of the overall 5K results here and age group results here.
Ainsley’s Angels
Anthony Hutton, 13, of Toney, took the Ainsley’s Angels division Cotton Row title with a speedy time of 21:30.
Greg Thompson, 60, of Madison, was second in 26:25, and Shannon Green, 40, of Toney, was third in 26:35. Green also won the women’s title.
Ainsley’s Angels is an inclusive organization that helps spread the enjoyment of endurance events. See all of the Ainsley’s Angels results here.
Bill Penney Toyota of Huntsville is the presenting sponsor for the Cotton Row Runs. Paul and Cindy Moeller are race directors, coordinating through the Huntsville Track Club and myriad volunteers to pull off the event.
Cotton Row Notebook
The Cotton Row Fab Five, also known as the “Ran All” runners, lined up Monday for their 46th Memorial Day 10K race through the streets of Huntsville.
Don Hillis (age 69) of New Market, Charles Van Valkenburgh (69) of Key West, Kevin Jose (64) of Huntsville, Jon D. Turner (78) of Ardmore, and Bill Allbritton (71) of Scottsboro, were honored before the start of the 10K.
“For anyone to have run every Cotton Row is a testament to the incredible durability and commitment to running that each of these athletes possess,” said Brian Carter, president of the Huntsville Track Club. “Not only that, but it’s a testament to the intrepid spirit of the Huntsville running community. We are thankful to have these athletes back each year to help us celebrate the rich history of the Huntsville Track Club and all of its members.”
Their times:
— Hillis, 58:51
— Van Valkenburgh, 1:12
— Jose, 1:07
— Turner, 1:16
— Allbritton, 1:33
Numbers, Numbers
A few nuggets to chew on:
Official finishers in the 10K: 1,750
Official finishers in the 5K: 1,367
More than 275 (easily) were in the 1-mile fun run, and seven in Ainsley’s Angels. The overall number of finishers easily is more than 3,400.
Check to last year and we’ll see 1,555 official finishers in the 10K, and 1,282 in the 5K. Add another 275 for a conservative 1-mile+Ainsley’s, and we easily see an increase this year. Registrations for races of all distances have been increasing annually since the 2020 crash due to the pandemic.
Youngest, Oldest
It’s always fun to see the youngest and oldest finishers in any race. Here are the ones for the Cotton Row 10K and 5K:
10K
Male Youngest: Theo Adams, age 5, Huntsville, 1:27:04
Female Youngest: (both 11) Ella Roberts, Huntland, Tenn., 1:12:02, and Allison Foster, Winchester, 1:18:14
Male Oldest: (both 86) Ray Fanning, 2:07, and Richard Titus, Huntsville, 2:05
Female Oldest: (all age 75) Kathy Harper, Athens, 1:02; Debbie Johnson, Fort Payne, 1:27:15, Erin McGuire Fayetteville, 1:30:27, Jackie Hobbs, Huntsville, 1:35:28
5K
Male Youngest: Matthew Morris, age 3, Madison, 52:56
Female Youngest: Rose Suray, 2 Madison, 51:10, and Georgia Shrontz, 2, Madison, 1:04:17
Male Oldest: Jim Oaks, 87 Huntsville, 53:10
Female Oldest: Avie Cohen, 84, Mountain Brook, 1:13:13
Photos? Photos!
Photographer Spencer Cox and his shutterbug crew were all over the Cotton Row course for the races.
Photos are not posted yet. Why? Because they took thousands of images and getting those uploaded takes time.
But … they likely will be here at this link when they’re ready. If not, we’ll correct and have the right link.
Patience, Gertrude. They’re workin’ on it. You can find your sweaty smilin’ mug when they’re posted.
