Rocket City 10K — M50-54: Davis edges Keller in a frigid McDonough showdown

• Sean Davis (54, 45:00) wins the M50-54 age group at 7:15/mi, holding off Brandon Keller by just 9 seconds in a battle between two McDonough, GA neighbors.
• Andy Choi (48:18) claims third at 7:46/mi — a comfortable 3:09 clear of fourth, making the podium the decisive top tier of the morning.
• Gerardo Garcia (52:19) and Andrew Benicasa (52:33) ran the closest battle outside the podium, separated by just 14 seconds across 6.2 miles.
• 21 finishers braved 29°F temperatures and a 16 mph wind in Huntsville, with times ranging from 45:00 to well over an hour and a half.

With the temperature sitting at 29°F and a 16 mph wind cutting across the course, the M50-54 field in Huntsville delivered one of the morning's most compelling finishes at the front. Sean Davis, 54, from McDonough, Georgia, crossed in 45:00 at a 7:15/mi clip to claim the age group win — and the man he had to hold off was his neighbor and training companion Brandon Keller, also of McDonough, who finished in 45:09 at 7:16/mi. Nine seconds over 6.2 miles in those conditions is razor-thin, and the slight pace difference between them tells the real story: Davis ran a touch faster and held it to the line.

Andy Choi of Madison, Alabama, rounded out the podium in 48:18 (7:46/mi), finishing a solid 3:09 behind Keller but well clear of the fourth-place chase. That gap effectively sealed the top three as their own race. Just behind, Gerardo Garcia of Russellville (52:19, 8:25/mi) and Andrew Benicasa of Columbus, Georgia (52:33, 8:27/mi) ran a tight fourth-versus-fifth duel, with only 14 seconds and a negligible pace difference deciding the outcome.

Marcus Haataja (55:00) and Gregory Musso (57:34) rounded out the sub-hour finishers at 8:51/mi and 9:16/mi respectively, before the field spread considerably across the back half. Eric Reynolds made the trip from Tooele, Utah to finish eighth in 1:01:10, while the remaining finishers stretched from just over an hour to beyond the 1:27 mark — 21 men in all, grinding through one of the colder mornings Huntsville has thrown at a December race field.