Rocket City 10K — M30-34: Combos Runs Away from the Field

• Theodore Combos (31, Boerne TX) won the M30-34 group in 39:01 at a blistering 6:17/mi — more than four and a half minutes clear of second place.
• Christian Washburn (30, Decatur AL) claimed second in 43:38 (7:01/mi), edging Nicholas Bianco (34, Huntsville AL) by 38 seconds in 44:16 (7:07/mi).
• Places 3 through 6 were decided within 2:45 of each other, with Patrick Bond (4th, 44:25) and Nathan Hay (5th, 45:28) and Nate Ennis (6th, 45:46) all locked in a tight mid-pack chase.
• Gerald Bradbury (7th, 48:18) and Cody Fincher (8th, 48:19) were separated by just one second — the closest finish in the top 20.

Twenty-nine degrees, clear skies, and a 16 mph wind greeted 39 men in the M30-34 group, and Theodore Combos made the cold feel like a non-factor. Running 6:17/mi, the 31-year-old from Boerne, Texas, built a gap that no one in the field could touch. His 39:01 wasn't just a win — it was a statement, arriving more than 4:30 ahead of the entire rest of the group.

Behind Combos, the real racing happened. Washburn (43:38, 7:01/mi) held off Bianco (44:16, 7:07/mi) and Bond (44:25, 7:09/mi) in a three-man battle for the podium where 47 seconds covered all three. Hay (45:28) and Ennis (45:46) rounded out the top six within two minutes of Bond, making the 3-through-6 stretch the most competitive stretch of the race.

The most dramatic moment in the top ten came near the back of it: Bradbury (48:18) and Fincher (48:19) finished essentially together, one second apart after 6.2 miles of racing in the cold. Just behind them, Hobbs (9th, 50:16) and Womack (10th, 50:18) replayed the drama — another two-second gap, another near-mirror finish. Moody (11th) arrived in 50:28, keeping that 50-minute cluster tight all the way through the top eleven.