Masters Men 5K: Tamez Takes the Title in a Three-Year Rocket City Return

• Gerard Tamez, 63, wins in 21:07 (6:48/mi) — his third straight appearance at this race, improving on a 6th-place finish in both 2022 and 2023 to claim the top spot outright.
• 26-second gap to 2nd: Nathan Campbell (Chicago, IL) crossed in 21:33, with John Van Duser just four seconds further back at 21:37 — the tightest battle of the day was for the silver.
• Age 63 leads age 42: Tamez's winning pace of 6:48/mi was a full 8 seconds per mile faster than Campbell's 6:56 — a comfortable margin from a man two decades his senior.
• Daniel Brunick pulls double duty: The Meridianville local finished 5th in 22:42 here while also placing 8th in the men's 10K — a genuine two-race weekend worth noting.

Gerard Tamez has been a Rocket City regular, finishing 6th in 2022 (20:39) and 6th again in 2023 (20:52). Saturday was a different story. The 63-year-old from New Market, AL went to the front and stayed there, crossing in 21:07 at 6:48/mi to win the Masters Men field of 87. He also raced the 10K, finishing 10th among the men there — making his 5K victory the sharper of two strong outings on the weekend.

The fight for the podium behind him was genuinely close. Nathan Campbell, 42, from Chicago ran 21:33 to take 2nd, and John Van Duser, 59, from Gladstone, MO was right on his heels at 21:37 — four seconds separating them after 3.1 miles. Van Duser, nearly two decades older than Campbell, matched him stride for stride in pace (6:57/mi to Campbell's 6:56/mi). After that, Jermon Tillman (52, Montgomery) broke away from the next cluster with a 22:12 for 4th, and Daniel Brunick (45) rounded out the top five in 22:42.

The field spread out considerably from there. Tim Patton (56, Rocky River, OH) ran 23:01 for 6th, while David Dawson — at 65, the oldest named finisher — clocked 24:51 for 12th. Kyle Stephens and Ross Burks finished back-to-back in 13th and 14th at 25:55 and 25:56, separated by a single second after more than three miles of racing. Sixty-seven more Masters Men completed the course behind them, a strong turnout on a mild December morning in Huntsville.