Rocket City Marathon 5K — M50-54: Sullivan runs away from the field

• Brian Sullivan (age 54, Longmeadow, MA) won the M50-54 group in 27:53 at an 8:58/mi pace — nearly 2:43 ahead of 2nd place.
• The podium was settled within 3:16 of Sullivan's time, with Vernon Atchison (30:36) and Wendell Ohern (31:09) separated by just 33 seconds.
• The M50-54 field spanned 28:27 from first to last, with Britt Blankenship rounding out the eight finishers in 56:20.

Brian Sullivan made his intentions clear from the gun. The 54-year-old from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, covered the 5K at 8:58/mi — the sharpest pace in the M50-54 group — and crossed in 27:53, building a gap that no one could touch on a warm, blustery December morning in Huntsville. At 70°F with a 17 mph wind and 76% humidity, the conditions were far from ideal for fast running, which makes Sullivan's margin all the more striking.

Behind him, Vernon Atchison (Plantersville, AL) and Wendell Ohern (Madison, AL) ran a tight battle for the podium. Atchison came in at 30:36 and Ohern at 31:09 — 33 seconds the difference between 2nd and 3rd. Duane Benedict, the youngest in the group at 50, finished 4th in 32:38, rounding out the front half of the field within roughly five minutes of the winner.

The back half of the M50-54 group told a different story. Lyle Langston (39:40), Greg Sandlin (45:41), Tommy Morris (50:42), and Britt Blankenship (56:20) spread across a wide range of finishing times, with Sandlin, Morris, and Blankenship all navigating the humidity and wind at a measured pace. Eight men finished, eight different stories — but on this day in Huntsville, Sullivan's was the one worth telling first.