Results/Photos

Date: Aug. 22, 2026 Participant: Robert Stephenson III #381 Race: 2026 Habanero Marathon Distance: 26.2 miles

Age-Group Champion Holds Off the Heat for a Top-Five Marathon Finish Robert Stephenson III, 23, of Harker Heights, Texas, completed the marathon distance at the 2026 Habanero Hundred in 5:43:47, placing 4th overall among 39 finishers and winning the Male 20-29 division outright. Stephenson opened aggressively, running his first four miles between 9:23 and 10:18 min/mile and holding 3rd place overall through mile seven. The course's deep sand and heat began to show by the middle miles, with splits at miles 11, 14, and 15 slowing to the 1718 min/mile range as he settled into 5th place overall. Even so, he never surrendered the top spot in his age group after mile eight, and he closed strong, dropping his final full-mile split back down to 11:48 en route to the finish. The Habanero Hundred earns its billing as Texas' hottest trail race with a deliberate High Noon start, when real-feel temperatures often exceed 100 degrees organizers intentionally front-load the heat exposure so runners face it while fresh rather than late in the race. Given the roughly 6-minute-per-mile gap between his early pace and his mid-race splits, Stephenson may benefit from a more conservative opening pace or added heat-specific training to help sustain his strong early rhythm across the full distance in future editions of this challenging course.