Rocket City Back Half: Calvignac Dominates M60-64

• Jacky Calvignac won M60-64 in 1:37:39 (7:27/mi), finishing more than 10 minutes and 59 seconds clear of second place.
• The top four were all age 60; the lone 63-year-old, Henry Nobrega, rounded out the top five.
• Tony Williams and Frank Barry staged the closest battle of the day, separated by just 19 seconds at the line.
• A field of seven saw a wide spread from first to last — over 1 hour and 49 minutes between Calvignac and Michael Hearn.

Jacky Calvignac, representing Rancho Palos Verde, CA, made the trip to Huntsville count. His 7:27/mi pace was the class of the M60-64 field, and the gap he put into the rest wasn't close — a 10:59 margin over Tony Crider of Bremen, AL is a commanding result in any half marathon, let alone on a warm, windy December morning with 70°F temperatures and 17 mph winds making the back half a genuine test of endurance.

Behind Calvignac, the race's most compelling subplot played out between two Alabamans. Tony Williams (Huntsville) and Frank Barry (Birmingham) ran nearly identical races, finishing in 1:50:12 and 1:50:31 respectively. Both men were moving through the field in the final stretch — Williams climbing from 82nd to 59th among the men, Barry from 81st to 61st — and both posted strong 10K-to-finish splits, with Williams recording the 49th-fastest and Barry the 55th-fastest closing split among all men in that segment.

Henry Nobrega, the only 63-year-old in the group, came home fifth in 2:17:40, while Dean Sides and Michael Hearn rounded out the seven-man field. The conditions — humidity pushing 76%, a steady wind, and unseasonably warm temperatures for December in Huntsville — made every minute hard-earned, and all seven men who crossed the line can count this one as a genuine effort.