M25-29: Fitzgerald Runs Away from the Field in Huntsville

• John Fitzgerald won the M25-29 group in 1:35:22 (7:16/mi), finishing 2:22 clear of runner-up Peyton Gaumer.
• Fitzgerald climbed from 15th to 11th among men on the 10K→Finish stretch, posting the 12th-fastest closing split in the men's field on that segment.
• Lee Chumbley made the biggest positional surge of the group, moving from 46th to 28th among men over the final stretch to claim 4th in M25-29.
• The gap from 1st to 20th place spanned 1:29:38, reflecting a wide range of effort across 22 finishers on a humid, heavy morning.

John Fitzgerald set the tone early and never let up. The Birmingham 25-year-old crossed in 1:35:22 at 7:16 per mile — a pace that left the rest of the M25-29 field well behind. His closing half of the race was particularly sharp: he gained four spots among men from the 10K mark to the finish, and his split on that segment ranked 12th among all men in the race. In conditions that were anything but fast — 98% humidity and a steady 8 mph wind — that kind of sustained pace was a genuine statement.

Peyton Gaumer (Rockville, MD) held off Cheston Husein (Alpharetta, GA) for the silver spot, finishing in 1:37:44 to Husein's 1:38:37. Both men were moving well enough through the first half but lost ground among the broader men's field over the 10K→Finish segment — Gaumer slipping from 12th to 17th among men, Husein from 21st to 18th. The 53-second gap between them was comfortable enough, but neither could threaten Fitzgerald's margin.

The most entertaining mover in the group was Lee Chumbley, also of Birmingham. He was sitting 46th among men at the 10K checkpoint and drove all the way to 28th by the finish — a 18-place climb that earned him 4th in M25-29 at 1:44:32. Luca Souza (Somerville, AL) came in 5th at 1:45:40 but went the other direction late, sliding from 29th to 33rd among men on the closing stretch. From Jack Crouch's 6th-place 1:49:15 on back, the field spread out considerably, with the final listed finisher, Joe McGuire, crossing at 3:05:00 — a reminder of just how demanding a humid December half marathon in Huntsville can be.