Rocket City Marathon 5K — M65-69: Hillis dominates a field of four 67-year-olds

• Don Hillis won the M65-69 group in 27:51 (8:58/mi), finishing more than 8 minutes clear of 2nd place.
• All four finishers in M65-69 were 67 years old — a remarkable age coincidence across the entire group.
• The gap from 1st to last spanned 30:41, reflecting a wide range of paces from 8:58/mi down to 18:50/mi.
• Rex Kern (Dayton, OH) held 2nd in 36:20, with Chris Hoffman (Cold Spring, KY) not far behind in 40:02 — a gap of just under 3:42 between them.

Don Hillis of New Market, AL made the M65-69 race his own from the outset, crossing in 27:51 at an 8:58-per-mile clip. On a warm, breezy December morning in Huntsville — 70°F with 17 mph winds and thick humidity — that's a composed, controlled effort, and it put him in a class of his own among the four competitors.

Behind him, Rex Kern of Dayton, OH and Chris Hoffman of Cold Spring, KY ran a quieter battle for the podium. Kern secured 2nd in 36:20 (11:42/mi), with Hoffman claiming 3rd in 40:02 (12:53/mi). The 3:42 separating them was real but not enormous — the kind of gap that could have closed over a longer course or a slightly different day.

Perhaps the most striking footnote in this group: every single finisher — Hillis, Kern, Hoffman, and Marty Evans — was 67 years old. Four competitors, one age. Evans completed the race in 58:32, well back of the field, but he got it done on a day that wasn't doing anyone any favors with the weather. Hillis, meanwhile, ran nearly half an hour faster — a margin that tells its own story.