M20-24: Henson Surges Late to Take the Age Group

• John Henson won M20-24 in 1:22:16 (6:17/mi), posting the 2nd-fastest 10K→Finish split among the men to move from 2nd to 1st in the men's field and seal the age-group title.
• Jayson Denovellis held steady in 2nd with a 1:34:07, finishing 11 minutes and 51 seconds behind Henson — a comfortable runner-up but a wide gap at the top.
• Michael Kehoe was the biggest mover of the group, climbing from 36th to 25th among men on the back half to claim 3rd in M20-24 in 1:44:22.
• Logan Fiske (5th, 1:48:46) was the group's notable fader, slipping from 22nd to 37th among men over the 10K→Finish stretch — surrendering a spot to Drew Holland (4th, 1:46:11) in the process.

Nine men lined up in the M20-24 age group at the Rocket City Marathon Back Half, and the race's defining move came exactly where it counts most: the final stretch. John Henson of Sharpsburg, GA arrived at the 10K mark sitting 2nd among the men but wasn't content to stay there. He unleashed the 2nd-fastest 10K→Finish split in the men's field, clocking a 1:22:16 finish at a brisk 6:17/mi average to claim both the age-group win and the overall men's lead. In a half marathon run in 56°F humidity-laden air, that closing effort was the decisive statement of the morning.

Behind Henson, the real drama played out in the middle of the pack. Kehoe made the most of the back half, climbing 11 places among the men from the 10K mark to the finish — the strongest positional gain in the group — to lock up 3rd in M20-24 at 1:44:22. Meanwhile, Fiske ran the opposite trajectory: sitting 22nd among men at 10K, he faded to 37th by the finish, allowing Holland to slip past him and take 4th in 1:46:11 to Fiske's 1:48:46. Just over two and a half minutes separated 3rd through 5th — the tightest cluster in the age group.

Blake Helton (6th, 1:50:18), Charlie Crim (7th, 1:58:22), and Austin Puckett (8th, 2:11:05) rounded out the field, with Tanner Rowe completing the course in 3:04:59 — nearly an hour behind the leader — to close out the nine-man M20-24 field.