Rocket City 5K — F35-39: Leslie Hale Runs Away With It

• Leslie Hale won the F35-39 age group in 27:53 (8:58/mi), finishing a full 1:31 ahead of runner-up Jess Glass.
• Jess Glass (29:24) and Ambrey Auten (29:42) battled closely for 2nd and 3rd, separated by just 18 seconds.
• The top 8 finishers all broke 34 minutes; a notable gap of over 3 minutes separates 8th-place Tristan Karigan (33:21) from 9th-place Angela Davis (36:47).
• Conditions were demanding — 70°F with 17 mph winds and 76% humidity in December — making every time here worth reading with that in mind.

Leslie Hale came to Huntsville and made it look straightforward. Her 27:53 — an 8:58/mi clip — was the class of a 31-woman F35-39 field, and the margin tells the story: she crossed the line a minute and a half before anyone else in her age group. On a warm, breezy December morning that had no business feeling like summer, that kind of separation is decisive.

Behind her, Jess Glass (Roanoke, VA) and local Madison runner Ambrey Auten staged the race's sharpest duel. Glass took 2nd in 29:24 and Auten claimed 3rd in 29:42 — 18 seconds covering the pair across 3.1 miles. Rachel Schrandt (4th, 31:10) and Leah Wilfong (5th, 32:25) rounded out a tight top five, all finishing within about four and a half minutes of each other.

The field then split into two distinct clusters. Crystal George (32:53), Gayoung Kim (32:58), and Tristan Karigan (33:21) held the back of the top eight, all under 34 minutes — and then a gap of more than three minutes opened before Angela Davis and Tyshina Starks arrived within a single second of each other in 9th and 10th. With 31 finishers completing the race in conditions better suited to July than December, every woman who toed the line earned her result.