Rocket City 5K — F35-39: Evans Dominates in the Cold

• Rachel Evans wins in 27:40 (8:54/mi), more than 3:27 clear of 2nd place — the largest gap in the F35-39 field.
• Carrie Christian takes 2nd in 31:07, with Shauna Perry 3rd in 32:24 — a 1:17 spread across the podium's two-through-three spots.
• Rosmin Ennis (4th, 33:38) and Laura Mulqueen (5th, 33:44) were separated by just six seconds across 3.1 miles.
• Jessica Conley (8th, 35:23) and Lindsay Sippel (9th, 35:23) finished to the same displayed second, with place alone settling the order.

Twenty-nine degrees, a 16 mph wind, and clear skies greeted 26 women in the F35-39 age group on Saturday morning in Huntsville — and Rachel Evans made it look like a training run. The 38-year-old from Meridianville crossed in 27:40 at an 8:54/mi clip, building a margin of more than three and a half minutes over the rest of the field. That kind of separation in a 5K is a statement. It's also a different story from her 2024 appearance here, when she finished 4th among women overall in 24:27 — a notably faster clock on what was clearly a different day, with today's bitter cold and stiff wind making fast times harder to come by.

Behind Evans, Carrie Christian (Madison, AL) claimed 2nd in 31:07 and Shauna Perry — also of Madison — rounded out the podium in 32:24. Christian's 10:01/mi and Perry's 10:26/mi were both solid efforts in the conditions, and the 1:17 separating them left the question of 3rd place genuinely open until the finish.

The race's tightest battle unfolded just off the podium. Rosmin Ennis (Pensacola, FL) finished 4th in 33:38 and Laura Mulqueen (Huntsville) was 5th in 33:44 — six seconds across the full 3.1 miles. Further back, 8th and 9th were settled by the clock's finest resolution: Jessica Conley and Lindsay Sippel both stopped the clock at 35:23, with Conley holding 8th by a whisker. Carla Simon (10th, 35:54) was the sole out-of-state representative in the top ten, making the trip from Manitowoc, Wisconsin worth the cold — she fit right in.