M45-49 at Rocket City Back Half: Stark Runs Away With It

• Matthew Stark won the M45-49 group in 1:42:28 (7:49/mi), finishing more than three minutes clear of runner-up Misbah Siddiqui.
• Siddiqui held second comfortably in 1:45:31, with Brad Hood a distant third in 1:51:40 — leaving a six-minute spread across the podium.
• A fierce four-way battle unfolded for 4th through 8th: Ian Worth, Tony Lowe, Jason Carter, Dan Zuckerman, and Mark Gilbert were all separated by just 1:15 between 1:55:41 and 1:56:56.
• The back half of the race reshuffled the deck: Lowe dropped from 48th to 63rd among the men on the 10K-to-Finish stretch, while Worth moved the opposite direction — climbing from 73rd to 58th.

Matthew Stark, 46, from Madison, AL, was in a class of his own on a damp, humid December morning in Huntsville — 56°F and 98% humidity with an 8 mph wind making every mile feel heavier than the clock suggests. His 7:49/mi average was simply a different gear from the rest of the M45-49 field, and he backed it up with a strong closing stretch, moving from 28th to 21st among the men over the final 10K.

Misbah Siddiqui ran a controlled, confident race to lock up second in 1:45:31. Like Stark, he gained ground in the back half, climbing from 37th to 32nd among the men — a sign that both podium finishers were running smart and finishing well. Brad Hood rounded out the top three in 1:51:40, holding steady late to claim the final podium spot in the M45-49 group.

The real drama of the morning played out in the battle for fourth. Five men — Worth, Lowe, Carter, Zuckerman, and Gilbert — finished within 75 seconds of each other across places 4 through 8, all clocking times between 1:55:41 and 1:56:56. Tony Lowe faded noticeably on the closing stretch, sliding back in the men's field even as Worth surged forward. In a race that close, those final miles made all the difference.