Rocket City Half Marathon: Courtney Ballard Tops the F25-29 Field

• Ballard wins in 1:38:07 (7:29/mi), more than 4:45 clear of runner-up Rachel Strons — the largest gap between any two consecutive podium finishers.
• Strons holds 2nd in 1:42:53 (7:51/mi), finishing 6:17 ahead of 3rd-place Susanna Fields.
• Fields gains ground late — moving from 21st to 18th among women on the 10K-to-finish stretch with the 18th-fastest women's split on that segment.
• 41 finishers completed the half marathon in the F25-29 age group, with the top five all breaking 1:53.

Courtney Ballard of Tupelo, MS made the F25-29 race look like a solo time trial. Her 7:29-per-mile average produced a 1:38:07 that no one in the age group came close to matching, and she backed it up with the 10th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-finish stretch — sustaining her pace deep into the race when others were fading. She moved from 8th to 9th among women overall across the course, a sign the broader women's field was tight around her, but within the F25-29 group she was never seriously challenged.

Rachel Strons, racing on home turf in Huntsville, locked in a steady 7:51/mi to claim 2nd in 1:42:53. She posted the 16th-fastest women's split over the final stretch, running a clean, controlled second half to hold off the rest of the field comfortably. The gap between Strons and 3rd-place Susanna Fields of Birmingham was a substantial 6:17 — meaning the real competition for the podium was settled well before the finish line.

Susanna Fields was the most interesting mover in the top half of the field, climbing from 21st to 18th among women on the back half of the course with the 18th-fastest women's closing split. Her 1:49:10 (8:20/mi) earned 3rd in the age group. Kathleen Coffey (1:52:16) and Rebecca Mulholland (1:52:55), both finishing 4th and 5th respectively, ran nearly identical races — separated by just 39 seconds — to round out the top five. The mild December conditions in Huntsville, 59°F with a light breeze, gave the whole field a reasonable shot, and 41 women answered the call.