Rocket City 10K — M65-69: Evans edges Hillis in a razor-thin finish

• Marty Evans won the M65-69 age group in 53:48 (8:39/mi), holding off Don Hillis by just 8 seconds.
• Don Hillis matched Evans stride for stride, finishing 2nd in 53:56 (8:41/mi) — a gap of less than two seconds per mile over the full 6.2 miles.
• Tom Davidson claimed 3rd in 57:08 (9:12/mi), running more than three minutes back of Hillis but well clear of the rest of the field.
• Five men finished the M65-69 age group on a warm, blustery December morning — 70°F and 17 mph winds making for anything but ideal late-season conditions.

The story of the M65-69 age group was written in eight seconds. Marty Evans of Muscle Shoals and Don Hillis of New Market — both 67 years old — ran what amounted to a two-man race at the front, separated by a margin that barely registers on a clock. Evans crossed in 53:48, Hillis in 53:56, and at 8:39 and 8:41 per mile respectively, the two were essentially locked together for the entirety of 6.2 miles in challenging conditions.

Tom Davidson of Athens took a comfortable third in 57:08, running 9:12/mi and finishing more than three minutes behind Hillis — a gap that tells you just how dominant the top two were relative to the rest of the age group. Davidson had clear daylight behind him as well, with Matt Barnett of Murfreesboro finishing 4th in 1:04:33 and local runner Forrest Callicutt — the lone Huntsville representative in the group — rounding out the five finishers in 1:06:51.

Credit to all five for toeing the line on a December day that felt nothing like December. Seventy degrees, thick humidity, and a 17 mph wind is a tough ask for any distance, and these five men in their late 60s navigated it and finished. But the headline belongs to Evans and Hillis — two Alabamans who made a 10K feel like a sprint finish.