Rocket City Marathon 10K — F35-39: Evans edges a razor-tight podium

• Rachel Evans (age 35, Meridianville, AL) won the F35-39 age group in 7:56:39, averaging 76:43/mi.
• The top three were separated by just 79 seconds — Evans, Raiza Vega, and Ashley Peek finished within a minute and a quarter of each other.
• Jamie Whitman and Julie Doering crossed in an identical displayed time of 8:23:04 (80:58/mi avg), with Whitman holding 12th and Doering 13th — timing finer than the clock face separated them.

Rachel Evans claimed the F35-39 title on a warm, humid December morning in Huntsville — 60°F and 85% humidity made for heavy air — crossing in 7:56:39 at a 76:43/mi average. But she had to earn every second of it. Raiza Vega of Dumfries, VA pushed her the entire way, finishing just 58 seconds back in 7:57:37. Ashley Peek of Athens, AL was right there too, completing the podium in 7:57:58 — a mere 19 seconds behind Vega and 77 seconds behind Evans. In a 10K, that's a genuinely fierce three-way contest.

The race then opened up slightly behind the podium. Erika Walker (4th, 8:04:36) and Malory Rundell (5th, 8:05:09) ran within 33 seconds of each other, forming a second cluster roughly eight minutes off the pace of the top three. Ashley Webb (6th, 8:07:59) and Jennifer Morgan (7th, 8:09:14) kept that mid-pack honest, all four runners finishing within about five minutes of the winner.

Further back, Cassandra Brogdon and Elizabeth Nicholson — both age 39, the oldest in the field — landed 9th and 10th in 8:12:04 and 8:12:39 respectively, separated by just 35 seconds. At the finish line, Whitman and Doering produced the day's other near-deadlock, their times reading identically at 8:23:04 before the timing system split them into 12th and 13th. Chelsea Crawshaw (14th), Jessica Ramsey (15th), and Rachel Brown (16th) rounded out the 16-finisher field, with Ramsey and Brown sharing an identical displayed time of 8:58:49 to close out the group.