M25-29: Zander-Velloso seizes the lead and never lets go

• Vladimir Zander-Velloso won the M25-29 group in 2:28:25 (5:40/mi), posting the fastest 10K→Half split among the men and surging from 3rd to 1st in the men's standings by the halfway mark.
• Andrew Taylor finished 2nd in 2:29:33 — just 68 seconds back — but brings a notable footnote: he won this same race in 2024 (2:28:10) and was 7th here in 2023 (2:38:51), a sharp improvement arc across editions.
• Ryan Fan (3rd, 2:41:05) and Jacob Warner (4th, 2:47:03) separated the podium from the chase pack, with Warner holding the 5th-fastest Half→20M split among the men before fading in the final stretch.
• Six finishers broke 2:50, and 14 broke 3:05 — a strong showing across a 131-man field on a frigid 29°F morning with 16 mph winds.

Racing in 29°F with a 16 mph wind cutting through Huntsville, the M25-29 group delivered one of the sharpest front-end battles of the day. Vladimir Zander-Velloso of Newnan, GA started the race sitting 3rd among the men, but by the halfway point he had moved to the front and stayed there, averaging 5:40/mi all the way to the line. His 10K-to-Half segment was the fastest among the men — a decisive stretch that put the result beyond doubt.

Andrew Taylor ran him close. The Lafayette, IN 25-year-old finished 2nd in 2:29:33 at 5:42/mi, and his 3rd-fastest men's split on the 10K→Half segment shows he was very much in the mix through the middle miles. But Taylor's story here runs deeper than one race: he won Rocket City in 2024 (2:28:10) and had finished 7th in 2023 (2:38:51), making this his third consecutive appearance on this course. Defending a title is hard enough; finishing runner-up by just over a minute, in brutal wind chill, is no disgrace.

Ryan Fan (Pikesville, MD) rounded out the podium in 2:41:05, a full 11:32 behind Taylor — the gap between 2nd and 3rd was the widest on the podium. Jacob Warner (Birmingham, AL) was the day's most interesting fader: he held 5th among the men as late as the 20-mile mark with the 5th-fastest Half→20M split, then slipped to 20th in the men's standings by the finish, eventually landing 4th in M25-29 at 2:47:03. Alex Morgan (5th, 2:47:37) and Mitchell Arnholt (6th, 2:48:27) closed within 90 seconds of Warner, making the 4th-through-6th battle one of the tightest of the afternoon.