Rocket City 10K: Andres Manuel edges Seth Fowler by 26 seconds in a tight M25-29 finish

• Manuel wins it by 26 seconds — his 75:24/mi average held off Fowler's 75:28/mi in the closest battle of the morning.
• Top five separated by just 2:06 — from Manuel's winning time to Franco Camarillo's fifth-place finish, the M25-29 group was remarkably bunched.
• Pranav Murthy locks up third — the Pittsburgh runner crossed in 7:54:38, a full 3:41 back of Manuel but a comfortable 1:42 clear of fourth.
• Kevin Vergara rounds out the field — the lone California representative finished 10th in 8:17:31, running a 80:04/mi pace across a 10-man M25-29 group.

Andres Manuel of Valley Head, Alabama, took the M25-29 title at the Rocket City 10K, but he had to work for every second of it. Seth Fowler of Athens gave chase the entire way, and the final gap — just 26 seconds across a 10K — tells you exactly how close this one was. Manuel's 75:24/mi average was the standard-setter on a warm, humid December morning in Huntsville, with temperatures sitting at 60°F and humidity at 85%.

Fowler's 75:28/mi pace was nearly identical, and the margin between them was razor-thin. Behind those two, Pranav Murthy ran a composed race to claim third in 7:54:38, putting enough daylight between himself and the rest that the podium was never seriously in doubt once the group spread out. Maxwell Heeschen (7:56:20) and Franco Camarillo (7:57:30) rounded out the top five, separated by just 70 seconds in fourth and fifth.

The middle of the pack was its own contest. Cameron Smith finished sixth just ten seconds behind Camarillo, and Hudson Morris wasn't far off in seventh at 8:00:14 — meaning six runners finished within a span of under three minutes. Darrell Dufour, Dante Thomas, and Kevin Vergara brought up the rear, with Vergara's 8:17:31 closing out the M25-29 field. On a humid, overcast morning that tested every runner's pacing discipline, it was Manuel who managed it best — barely.