Rocket City Back Half — F40-44: Leblanc dominates in the heat

• Amanda Leblanc won the F40-44 group in 1:31:19 (6:58/mi), finishing 4th among all women — more than 10 minutes clear of second place.
• Linda Bowen ran the 10th-fastest women's closing split (10K to finish) to hold second in 1:41:37 — and she'd already claimed 3rd among all women in the 5K earlier in the weekend.
• Sara King and Emily Waite, both from Birmingham, finished 3rd and 4th just 34 seconds apart (1:44:38 vs. 1:45:12), though Waite faded two spots in the women's field over the back half while King gained one.
• Jamie Wightman and Angelia Hewitt crossed 10th and 11th in a near-dead heat — 1:03:38 and 1:03:39 separated by a single second after 13.1 miles.

Amanda Leblanc made this one look straightforward, and the numbers back it up. Running 6:58 per mile on a warm, windy December morning in Huntsville — 70°F with 17 mph gusts and thick humidity — the Louisville native moved from 5th to 4th among all women over the back half, posting the 4th-fastest women's closing split in the entire field. Her margin of victory in the F40-44 group was 10 minutes and 18 seconds. That's not a race; that's a statement.

Behind her, Linda Bowen turned in one of the weekend's best double-dip performances. She'd already stood on the podium as 3rd among all women in the 5K, and then came back to claim 2nd in F40-44 with a 1:41:37 — backed by the 10th-fastest women's closing split. Bowen moved from 13th to 12th among women over the final stretch, finishing strong in conditions that clearly took a toll on the field.

The battle for 3rd was a tight Birmingham affair. Sara King (1:44:38) and Emily Waite (1:45:12) were separated by just 34 seconds, but their trajectories diverged: King climbed a spot in the women's standings over the back half while Waite slipped two. That late-race momentum was the difference on the podium.

Further back, the race produced one of its most striking moments at 10th and 11th: Jamie Wightman and Angelia Hewitt, both from Frisco, Texas, finished in 2:03:38 and 2:03:39 — one second apart after more than two hours of racing together.