After doing four or five half-marathons, Vladi Zander-Velloso figured the 49th Rocket City Marathon would be a good one for his first full experience.
Unknown course? Check. Insanely cold December weather? Check. Winning his debut marathon? Yep, he did that.
The 25-year-old from Newnan, Georgia, cruised to the win by about a minute on Dec. 14, bolting to the finish line in the Von Braun Center South Hall. He slowed and then stopped after crossing and receiving his medal, taking in the cheers from the crowd. Zander-Velloso also was coming off that 26-mile high, his body saying, “Yo, thanks, that was cold and I’m tired.” First aid crew took him via wheelchair for hydration and warming.
All of that was secondary, though. Zander-Velloso won one of the Southeast’s oldest marathons in his debut. He was thrilled, albeit modest, about the win.
“It was a really cold and chilly day, especially with the headwinds the last three miles. Those were awful,” he told TVO. “I felt pretty good until like the last mile or so and kind of started feeling a little bit faint, but it wasn’t that bad. It was a pretty good start for my first marathon,. I enjoyed it a lot, the course and grade and everything. I really liked it.”
Half Wins, Big Decision
This year’s marathon course was tweaked over the summer to remove some of the hills. Race director Eric Fritz consulted area runners for input. The course still routed through the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville Botanical Garden and parts of Old Huntsville. Other tweaks were made to the other races, including the elimination of the “back half-marathon.”
The 50th Rocket City Marathon is set for Dec. 11-13, 2026. Registration will open in spring.
Zander-Velloso ran cross country at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., graduating in 2022. At McIntosh High in Georgia, he twice earned All-State cross country honors. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Zander-Velloso won the Peachtree City Half Marathon in January, finishing in 1:09, and the Carrollton Half Marathon in September in 1:06. He said he “just decided it was time for a marathon” when he registered for the Rocket City event.
“After I graduated college, a few of my teammates were telling me to do a marathon,” he said. ” I decided I’m gonna run a few halves and get that experience, and then do it .I wasn’t going to jump right into a full immediately. With the halves, I could figure out how the half is gonna feel so I can get used to it and then make a gradual transition to the marathon.”
He carried a 5:40 pace through the route, hitting his first 10K in 35:27, the halfway point in 1:12 and 20 miles in 1:49.
“I didn’t really have a real strategy or anything, to be honest,” Zander-Velloso said. “It was more of a let’s see how it feels and adjust to that, but I felt pretty good around, like, mile eight or nine and kind of, like, made a little move. Some other guys and I went together, and then I kind of broke away but I was alright. So like, now I was just going to be me myself, and see how it goes, and it worked pretty well for me.”
Yucky for Everyone
Saturday’s weather for the 10K and 5K were super, and then overnight the north wind started blowing with temperatures plunging into the 30s. Sunday’s weather sucked for a marathon and half marathon, to be honest, but it sucked for everyone.
“Like everyone else, I was looking at the weather all week,” he said. “Beginning the weekend, they said it was going to be raining and cold, and I was kind of worried about it, but then it shifted, and was alright. I told myself at least it’s going to be sunny, so might be a bit warmer with the sun. The wind and cold was tough but everyone has to deal it. That’s just part of it sometimes.
“I liked the course. It had some decent hilly parts, but mostly was nice and rolling and flat, gentle, pretty cool with some places like the space center. That was really cool, going through and seeing the rockets and also through the (botanical) gardens, the lights and everything. I’ve also never finished a race inside before. So that was very unique and pretty cool. So, yeah, it was really fun overall.”
Runners this year had hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, among other post-race treats, which Zander-Velloso appreciated.
“I liked that they actually had, like, real food for the runners after the finish,” he said. “That was really nice with the hot soup and warm drinks. They knew it was gonna be cold, so they had that ready to go. That was great.”
