Rocket City Marathon F15-19: Lambert leads a young field through the humidity

• Olivia Lambert, 17, wins in 4:07:05 (9:25/mi), finishing 72nd among all women on a warm, humid December morning in Huntsville.
• Maria Chytka edges Sarah Reynolds for 2nd — 4:46:37 to 4:54:58 — with both Huntsville locals finding a stronger gear in the final 11K to move up in the women's field.
• Morgan Brannon rounds out the group of four in 6:31:52 (14:57/mi), steadily climbing from 337th to 329th among women across the race.
• Lambert's 10K-to-half split ranked 52nd fastest among all women — a standout stretch that helped her build her commanding margin.

Four teenagers lined up for the F15-19 group at Rocket City on a muggy 60-degree morning, and Olivia Lambert made it look like her race from the start. The 17-year-old from Woodstock, Georgia crossed in 4:07:05 at a 9:25/mi clip — nearly 40 minutes clear of the next finisher. Lambert had already shown her range this weekend, having placed 2nd in the Women's 5K at the same event, making her marathon victory the second strong result of her race weekend. That kind of back-to-back performance across distances deserves its own spotlight.

Lambert's sharpest stretch came between 10K and the half, where she posted the 52nd-fastest women's split in the field — a sustained push that helped her move from 53rd to 51st among women before the race dynamics of the back half shuffled the standings. She ultimately settled 72nd among women, a very respectable position in what was clearly a deep and competitive women's field.

Behind her, the battle for 2nd played out between two Huntsville locals. Maria Chytka, 18, finished in 4:46:37 (10:56/mi), holding off 16-year-old Sarah Reynolds, who crossed in 4:54:58 (11:15/mi). Both athletes ran their strongest comparative split in the 31K-to-finish segment — Chytka posting the 147th-fastest women's closing split, Reynolds the 191st — meaning Chytka actually ran that stretch faster and extended the gap to the finish. The 8-minute, 21-second margin between them reflects a real difference in late-race pace, not just a photo-finish separation.

Morgan Brannon, 19, of Decatur completed the quartet in 6:31:52 at 14:57/mi, steadily working her way up from 337th to 329th among women across the full 26.2 miles — a quiet persistence across a long, warm day on the roads.