Thomas Crivellone won the fifth annual Smokerise half-marathon Saturday by about five minutes at the Blevins Gap Nature Preserve in Huntsville.
Crivellone, 34, finished the twin-loop course in the third-best time in event history. He slid into that spot by eight seconds, clipping Kory Muller’s 2:01:50 mark set in 2021.
Jack Shattuck, 16, was second in 2:06:28, which is eighth-best on the event’s T-10 record list. Ryan Manning, 37, was third in 2:11.
Emily Crispi, 29, won the women’s title in 2:24:47, good for second on the women’s record list. She was fifth overall.
Amanda Tatum, 31, was second (14th) in 2:43:14 (sixth on the record list), and Samantha Crawford, 34, was third (15th) in 2:44:41 (seventh on the record list).
Runners in the half-marathon, 10K and 5K began the races in the parking lot of the preserve, which is part of the Land Trust of North Alabama. From there, they scampered up the hillside to the top of the ridge on the Certain Trail. After descending to the Varnedoe Trail, they hung a left on Sugar Tree before climbing back to the parking lot on Smokerise.
The final half mile climbs 330 feet on rocky, technical terrain. After topping out, it’s a sprint to the finish line on gravel in the parking lot. Half runners did this loop twice, while the 10K did it once and 5K had a shorter version.
The event is put on by Running Lane. It’s their final trail event before the 4-event summer Wild Thangs Series at Monte Sano State Park.
See all of the half-marathon results here.
Smokerise 10K, 5K
Matt Fuller won the 10K by almost four minutes in a smooth 53:46. Levi Davies was second in 57:40.
Sandy Trail won the women’s title in 1:06 and was 17th overall. Ashley Pearce was second (26th) in 1:13.
In the 5K event, Jacob Wierenga, 14, won the race in a smoking 25:01 by a minute over Mark Wells, 36, who finished in 26:03.
Meredith Cheesebrew, 36, was third in 32:05.
See all of the 10K results here, and all of the 5K results here.
