Rocket City Marathon F55-59: Christine Anderson Runs Away With It

• Christine Anderson (56, Cumberland, WI) took the F55-59 title in 4:04:44 — a 9:20/mi effort that put nearly five minutes of daylight between her and the rest of the field.
• Susan Barry (58, Racine, WI) claimed second in 4:09:40, while Lynda Coye (56, Boston, MA) closed strongly to secure third in 4:16:04.
• Lynda Coye posted the 74th-fastest women's split on the 31K-to-finish stretch — the strongest closing leg of the top three, and the engine behind a charge that moved her from 131st to 96th among women across the race.
• Kathy Burnett and Ronda Bennet staged a photo finish of their own: 15th in 5:51:23 and 16th in 5:51:26 — three seconds apart after more than five and a half hours of racing.

Christine Anderson ran a controlled, composed race from the gun. Her gender placement dipped slightly in the early miles — sliding from 71st to 75th among women through the first half — before she reeled it back in, finishing 67th among women overall. That mid-race steadiness, combined with a 9:20/mi average on a warm, humid December day in Huntsville, was enough to win the F55-59 group by a comfortable 4:56 margin.

Susan Barry tracked a similarly disciplined arc, moving from 83rd to 79th among women and holding that position through the finish at 4:09:40. The real mover in the top three, though, was Lynda Coye. Starting deep in the women's field at 131st, she worked her way up to 96th by the finish line — a gain of 35 spots — powered by a strong 31K-to-finish leg that ranked 74th among all women on that segment. Her 4:16:04 was good for third in the group.

Behind the podium, Laurie Hathaway (4th, 4:31:58) and Angela Kiger (5th, 4:36:51) both found their best running in the back half of the course, posting the 134th- and 133rd-fastest women's splits respectively on the 31K-to-finish leg. The field spread out considerably from there, with Uyen Chu (6th, 4:42:41) through Suzanne Erickson (20th, 7:00:03) covering a wide range of paces across 20 finishers. The closest battle of the day came near the back: Kathy Burnett and Ronda Bennet were inseparable at the line, separated by just three seconds after over five hours on the road.