HUNTSVILLE- The 40^th annual Cotton Row Run 10K is scheduled for Memorial Day and is set to receive the start gun at 7:00 a.m., and with the big bang will come a couple major differences in this year’s running of the annual race through the streets of downtown Huntsville, much of it through the old parts of town known as Cotton Row.

The Cotton Row Run is regarded as one of the premier races across the Southeast, not only for the recreational runner, but for the more elite runners participating in the Grand Prix Division of road racing with $1,200 going to the winners in both male and females divisions, plus a $5,000 payout for a course record in each of the four divisions of the 10K race. In 2018, Linus Kiplagat set a new course record of 28-minutes, 39-seconds to earn the five-thousand extra bonus. The female course record was set in 2007 by Silvia Skvortsova at 33:20.

This year, the major change for the race is a new start/finish line located on Church Street. Some course changes were made to accommodate the current construction surrounding the Von Braun Center.

The second change of note for this year’s running of the CRR is the race has a new presenting sponsor- Bill Penney Mitsubishi of Huntsville. Part of the longtime Huntsville Bill Penney Toyota dealership, Mitsubishi will also give away a new car to a participant. The random drawing will be held at the awards ceremony after the races.

Madison residents have always been among the large crowd that makes the challenge of running the races and this year close to 300 from Madison has registered to partake in the Memorial Day festivities. At the latest registration list, the eldest of those from Madison parting in the 10K event is 66 years of age while the youngest participant is nine years old.

Registration for both the 10K and 5K races remains open until May 26. There is no registration day of race.