HUNTSVILLE– The 40^th running of the Cotton Row Run, presented by Bill Penney Mitsubishi, was a record breaking, sauna type race through the streets of downtown Huntsville. With a high humidity reading of 86-percent and an official temperature of 73 degrees at the 7:00 a.m. start time, the tough weather conditions did not stop more than 2,000 runners from taking to the 10K race course. The rugged status of Mother Nature didn’t seem to slow down one runner who set a new race record in the process of celebrating Memorial Day.

Of the 2,014 finishers, 353 call Madison home with Josh Whitehead, 40, the top finisher from the City of Madison with a time of 32-minutes, 48 seconds, which was 13^th overall. The top Madison female finisher was 26-year old Lindsay Grissom who completed the 10K distance with a time of 49:13.

The overall race winner was Dominic Korir, 33, currently residing in Colorado Springs, Colo., who posted winning time of 29:36. He won the $1,200 prize for race champion. On the female side of the action, Catherine Mwanzau of Lansing, Mich., via Kenya, not only was presented her $1,200 for winning her division, the 19-year old also took home an additional $5,000 for setting a new female record time of 32:52, last set in 2007.

Due to construction surrounding the Von Braun Center, the start and finish lines of the annual race were moved to the east side of Big Spring Park as part of a new course modification while the events’ 5K course was completely reworked zig-zagging the streets of Huntsville.

The finishers from Madison in the 5K totaled 326 with Shaun Tompkins, 37, the best finisher from Madison with a time of 18:09. His time was second overall to Seth Graham of Athens. The 21-year old Graham posted a time of 16:48. The top female time was by Barbara Parker, 29, of Owens Cross Roads, who posted 21:00. Emmy Mattingly, 14, finished the 5K distance in 24:47 and was the top Madison resident in the secondary race.

Age division winners from Madison in the 5K race included Male 35-39: Shaun Tompkins, 37, 18:08; Female 17-19: Madelyn Clark, 19, 25:19; Female 35-39: Linda Scavarda, 35, 25:34; Male 40-44: Matthew Hunt, 40, 20:31; Female 55-59: Lynn Bates, 59, 26:50; Female 60-64: Jamie Clay, 62, 27:06.

The new race presenting sponsor Bill Penney Mitsubishi not only stepped up to support the race in 2019, but the division of longtime Huntsville car dealership of Bill Penny Toyota also offered a 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage to one lucky participant. To be eligible, the winner had to be a participant in either of the 10 or 5K races and be present at the giveaway to win. Drawn by a computer, John Herceg of Huntsville and formally of Hollywood, Fla. was chosen as the winner of the automobile valued at $14,900 and was used as the pace car for the 10K race. Herceg and his wife have one child and are expecting their second, soon.

Race fun facts included- 24 states, the District of Columbia and the country of Kenya were represented in this year’s 10K race; the Male 40-44 age division of the 5K race featured all top three finishers from Madison- 1. Matthew Hunt, 40, 20:31, 2. Nicholas Selig, 41, 21:46, Israel Marshall, 41, 22:24; with the one-mile fun run included, there were over 4,000 participants; Charity Partners this year were United States Army Survivor Outreach Services, Snowball Express (fallen military) and Boy Scout Troop 364; The eldest in the 10K race was age 82 and female age 81; Eldest in the 5K event was 91 and female age 85; Bill Penney Mitsubishi agreed to a five-year presenting sponsorship of the Cotton Row Run.