Rocket City 10K — M35-39: Cox Claims the Crown

• Daniel Cox (age 39) won the M35-39 group in 52:17, averaging 8:25/mi — more than a minute clear of the field.
• Tight podium battle: Joey Blicker (53:26) and Will Nevin (54:03) were separated by just 37 seconds for 2nd and 3rd, with Michael Carroll only 17 seconds further back in 4th at 54:20.
• A local sweep: all four podium finishers called Huntsville home.
• Wide spread at the back: the gap from Cox's winning time to Andrew Csikos's 10th-place 1:21:14 stretched nearly 29 minutes across 10 finishers.

Daniel Cox made the M35-39 race look straightforward, crossing in 52:17 at an 8:25/mi clip — a pace none of his nine competitors could match. At 39, the oldest age eligible for the group, Cox gave away nothing to the younger men behind him and finished 1:09 ahead of runner-up Joey Blicker.

Behind Cox, the real drama played out in a three-man scrap for the remaining podium spots. Blicker (35) held 2nd in 53:26, but Will Nevin (38) pushed him hard, finishing just 37 seconds back in 3rd. Michael Carroll (36) arrived in 54:20 — only 17 seconds behind Nevin — meaning positions 2 through 4 were decided within a 54-second window. On a warm, breezy December morning in Huntsville (70°F with a 17 mph wind), that kind of sustained close racing was no small feat.

Caleb Farrier of New Market rounded out the top five in 55:45, while Robert Lewis (56:29) and Scott Wallace (58:03) kept the middle of the field competitive. Daniel Cooper closed out the sub-hour finishers in 59:55. Timothy Frawley and Andrew Csikos finished 9th and 10th respectively, with Csikos's 1:21:14 marking the widest gap of the day — a reminder that in a 10-man age group, the range of experience and ambition can be just as wide as the clock suggests.