Men's Race: Fajardo Strnad Holds Off Graves in a 5:34 Showdown

• Roberto Fajardo Strnad (Ooltewah, TN, age 25) won the men's race in 1:12:56 (5:34/mi), posting the fastest men's split on the 6.8M-to-Finish stretch to seal it.
• Dalton Graves pushed to within 10 seconds (1:13:06, 5:35/mi) with the second-fastest closing split — the tightest gap at the top of the men's field.
• Matt McMillian (age 40, 5th in 1:17:38) delivered the strongest closing move in the top 10, climbing from 7th to 5th with the 5th-fastest finishing split — and bettered his own 2024 finish here of 1:19:15 (3rd) by nearly two minutes.
• Roman Hanson (age 17, 10th in 1:21:28) and John Litavec (age 16, 12th in 1:21:55) were among the youngest in the men's field — and among the fastest.

In 29°F cold with a 16 mph wind cutting through Huntsville, Roberto Fajardo Strnad went straight to the front and never left. He led from start to finish among the men, running 5:34/mi to cross in 1:12:56 — and he didn't just hold the lead, he reinforced it in the back half, posting the fastest men's split from 6.8 miles to the finish line.

Dalton Graves made that closing stretch a genuine contest. He ran the second-fastest 6.8M-to-Finish split in the men's field, but Fajardo Strnad was simply faster on the same stretch. The result: a 10-second gap at the line — razor-thin for a half marathon, but a clear verdict. Mark Porter (Huntsville's own, age 22) was 3rd in 1:14:50, while Ian Hobbs (age 20) took 4th in 1:15:37 with the third-fastest closing split — meaning he actually ran down the gap to Porter in the final miles, though not enough to overtake him.

The most compelling story outside the podium belonged to Matt McMillian. The 40-year-old from Owens Cross Roads ran 1:17:38 — nearly 1:37 faster than his 3rd-place finish at this same race in 2024 — and moved from 7th place at the 6.8-mile mark to 5th at the line with the 5th-fastest closing split in the men's field. That's a better time, a better closing gear, and a better finish, all in one return trip to Huntsville.

Deep in the field, 17-year-old Roman Hanson (10th, 1:21:28) and 16-year-old John Litavec (12th, 1:21:55) ran times that would hold up against most adults on the day, finishing ahead of 627 men in a field of 639.