One of Huntsville's longest-running sporting made its return Saturday as the Rocket City Marathon kicked off early in the morning.Â
Event organizers were forced to cancel the events over the past two years due to COVID-19 and severe weather, respectively.Â
The organizers' decision to cancel last year was a difficult one.Â
"Last year, we put in all the work for the event," said Dwayne DeBardelaben, one of the co-directors of the marathon. "We had to cancel the morning of because of severe weather."
DeBardelaben and his team made changes this year, including adding an extra day of races.Â
Runners set off on a 5K on Saturday morning outside of the Von Braun Center.Â
This year, along with the full and half-marathons, there were also a marathon relay, a 5K, a 10K and the kids' marathon. The kids' marathon is in actuality about two laps around a smaller course.Â
DeBardelaben said roughly 3,000 people signed up to participate in this year's events, with people coming from all across the country.Â
"We have people from 46 states and a few from overseas, (plus) a couple from Canada," said DeBardelaben.Â
Ashley Garcia and her husband came from Columbus, Ohio, as part of their collective love of traveling and running marathons. Garcia planned to film for her YouTube , "Run 50 States My Way."
She was excited to come to Huntsville.Â
"(It's my) first time in Huntsville, Alabama, and we love it," said Garcia. "It's state No. 14 on our journey across the 50 states."
The Huntsville Sports Commission partnered with the Rocket City Marathon for 2022's races. The city loves the economic draw that it gets from the event each year.Â
"We think it all builds to make Huntsville the great place that it is," said DeBardelaben. "We love the city!"
