M20-24 Half Marathon: Temple Runs Away With It in Huntsville

• Nic Temple won the M20-24 group in 1:16:05 (5:48/mi), more than six minutes clear of runner-up Stephen Rhoades (1:22:09).
• Rhoades and Temple posted the two fastest closing splits in the group — Temple's 8M→Finish was 3rd-fastest among men, Rhoades' was 5th-fastest among men.
• Places 3 and 4 were decided by just 8 seconds: Kevin Portinga (1:36:34) edged Samuel Womack (1:36:42), with Womack actually the stronger closer — he lost a spot on the 8M→Finish leg after holding a higher position through 8 miles.
• The field of 19 spanned nearly 1:45 from first to last, with Jakub Slowik finishing in 3:01:14 at 13:50/mi.

On a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast, about as cooperative as Alabama gets in mid-December — Nic Temple turned this into a one-man show. The 23-year-old from Trussville was running at 5:48/mi and never looked threatened, holding 4th among men from the opening checkpoint through the finish. His margin of victory over Stephen Rhoades wasn't a late surge or a collapse by his nearest rival; it was simply a gap that existed and grew, sealed by the 3rd-fastest closing split among the men.

Rhoades, 20, out of Wentzville, Missouri, was the clear class of the rest of the field, picking up one spot among men on the back half to finish 5th among men overall. His 1:22:09 at 6:16/mi left him comfortably clear of the pack behind him — third-place Kevin Portinga came in at 1:36:34, more than 14 minutes back.

That battle for third was the race's most compelling subplot. Portinga (Grand Rapids, MI) and Samuel Womack (Thompsons Station, TN) ran virtually identical races through 8 miles, but their closing legs told opposite stories: Portinga's 31st-fastest closing split held off Womack's 34th-fastest, and eight seconds was all that separated them at the line. Womack had actually been running in a slightly higher position among men through 8 miles before fading just enough to land 4th.

Behind them, the M20-24 field spread out across a wide range of efforts, with Stephen Edds and Ricky Morales running nearly identical races in 6th and 7th (1:43:21 and 1:43:45), and Jakub Slowik closing out the group in 3:01:14 — a finish that still takes 13.1 miles off the roads.