With less than two weeks until the 48th Rocket City Marathon, organizers are close to having full fields for all five events in the weekend lineup.
RCM Weekend is Dec. 13-15, with the 10K and 5K runs kicking off the festivities on Saturday morning. Both loop through portions of Old Huntsville and downtown Huntsville before ending in the Von Braun Center. On Sunday, runners have the option of the Front Half-Marathon, Back Half-Marathon or full marathon.
The host Huntsville Track Club held a press conference Monday morning at Mars Music Hall at the Von Braun Center. Club president Mica Anderson said more than 3,750 have registered for all the races this year. That’s well above the 3,082 from 2023. The event was founded in 1977 with just the marathon, which at the time routed into south Huntsville along Bailey Cove Road.
Course changes were made in 2014 to add elevation and new parts of the city. Today’s route goes through parts of Twickenham, Old Huntsville, out to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, through the Huntsville Botanical Garden, and back through Big Spring Park to the finish in the VBC. New medals this year incorporate a downtown scene along with the Apollo rocket, glitter finish, and larger-to-smaller sizes for the marathon to 5K.
“Registration will be open until we reach the cap of 4,000,” she said. “We’re at about 51 percent male and 49 percent female registrations, so that’s encouraging to see. This event has been part of he fabric of our community for nearly five decades. The energy and enthusiasm our volunteers and runners bring every year make it truly special.”
Record Numbers
Each race is capped, and the overall cap is 4,000 participants. With time running short only a few slots are left in each one as of Dec. 1:
— Marathon, 99 spots
— Front Half Marathon, 34
— Back Half Marathon, 6
— 10K, 62
— 5K, 73
This is the highest registration in years. Runners are from more than 45 states, six countries and 1,300 cities. The only states without a runner registered include Alaska, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont. Runners from other countries include Anguilla, Albania, France, Kenya, Puerto Rico and five from Canada.
“We are so happy to share our city with runners from around the world,” said Eric Fritz, past HTC president and current board member. “Thirty percent of our runners this year are repeat participants. We believe that is a direct tribute to the hospitality of the city. People love to come to Huntsville and we love to host them.”
Mark Russell, executive director of race sponsor Huntsville Sports Commission, said the weekend’s economic impact is more than $1 million to the city.
Registration is open until race weekend for the races and to volunteer.
Packet Pickup
Huntsville Track Club members will be setting up the finish line chute and other areas on Dec. 12, with the runners’ expo setup on Friday morning, Dec. 13
Packet pickup for all events opens Dec. 13 from 2-8 p.m. at the Von Braun Center South Hall. It also will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Dec. 14 for pickup, with the morningn 10K and 5K runners finishing inside the VBC.
Runners must pick up 5K, 10K and Kid’s Marathon packets on Dec. 13.
Race morning pickups must do the following:
— Log in to your RunSignup account
— Look for Rocket City Marathon in your upcoming races and click on manage registration
— See “add ons” at top of the page, click on that and select Race Day Packet Pickup
— The charge for race day packet pick up will be a donation to Red, White, and Blue
No donation online, no pickup. Pay attention and don’t show up on race morning begging forgiveness for not reading the instructions and getting it done.
Who’s Running?
David Too of Tallahassee, Fla., and Mary Alice Gary of Knoxville are the defending Rocket City Marathon champions. Neither are listed in the participant roster, as of Dec. 1. The race could have new winners unless either register late. The Huntsville Track Club traditionally has not sought elite runners who might have appearance fees or other demands, Fritz said.
“We don’t solicit the elites and cater to them … there are upsides and downsides,” he said. He added that multiple RCM champion Josh Whitehead of Madison is registered. Whitehead won in 2022 and has been locked in on RCM training the past few months.
Volunteers still are needed for various tasks, as well, from course sentries to helping in the VBC. Check out the volunteer opportunities here.
MAIN PHOTO: New medals this year for the five races include a rocket and larger-to-smaller sizes for each race. The marathon medal is the largest, about the size of a coffee cup saucer. (Photo: Alan Clemons/TVO)
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