Rocket City 5K — F55-59: Holt Leads Wire to Wire in Alabama Heat

• Kimberly Holt (age 58, Nacogdoches, TX) won the F55-59 group in 31:29 — a 10:08/mi pace that put her more than a minute clear of the field.
• The gap from 1st to 2nd was 1:15; from 2nd to 3rd just 25 seconds — a genuine battle for the podium's lower steps.
• Elaine Rodgers and Brenda Szabo finished 10th and 11th in 42:45 and 42:47 respectively — two seconds apart after 3.1 miles of racing in challenging conditions.
• 22 women finished in the F55-59 group on a warm, windy December morning in Huntsville — 70°F and 17 mph winds making for anything but typical late-season racing.

Kimberly Holt made the F55-59 race look straightforward, crossing in 31:29 at a crisp 10:08 per mile. At 58 years old and traveling from Nacogdoches, Texas, she had no one within striking distance — her margin over second place was 1:15, a comfortable cushion that suggests she was in control from the start.

Behind Holt, Denise Murphy (32:44) and Tami Greenwell (33:09) ran a real race within the race. Murphy, a local from Madison, Alabama, held second by 25 seconds over Greenwell of Spring Hill, Tennessee — close enough that the final stretch mattered. Kandy Cockerill rounded out the top four in 34:04, with Terri Engle and Melissa McDonald filling out a tight cluster between 34:56 and 35:14.

The middle of the field told its own story. Judy Bauman (36:07) and Bonnie Hancock (37:05) ran solid efforts in the 11-and-a-half to noon-per-mile range, with Jane Hammond completing the top ten in 39:03. Then came perhaps the day's closest battle: Elaine Rodgers edged Brenda Szabo by just two seconds — 42:45 to 42:47 — after covering 3.1 miles in warm, gusty conditions. With heat, humidity, and a stiff wind off the December calendar, every finisher in this group of 22 earned their result.