F45-49 Half Marathon: Ami Weems Runs Away With It

• Ami Weems won the F45-49 group in 1:36:50 (7:23/mi), more than 13 minutes clear of runner-up Ann Brink.
• Weems posted the 5th-fastest closing split (10K to Finish) among all women — a strong finish on a warm, windy December morning.
• Ann Brink (Chicago) held 2nd in 1:50:01, with Shannon Allen (Huntsville) rounding out the podium in 1:54:41.
• The back half of the field was tightly bunched: 11th through 13th were separated by just over a minute, and 16th through 18th by under two minutes.

Nineteen women lined up in the F45-49 group at Rocket City's Front Half Half Marathon, and Ami Weems of Birmingham made it look like a different race from the moment the clock started. Running a 7:23-per-mile average in 70°F heat with 17 mph winds and heavy humidity, she crossed in 1:36:50 — a performance that held up as 4th among all women on the day. That's not a comfortable lead; that's a statement.

Weems didn't just go out hard — she closed hard too, posting the 5th-fastest split among women from the 10K mark to the finish. That kind of strength in the back half, in conditions that punish anyone who goes out too fast, separated her from a competitive field.

Ann Brink made the trip from Chicago count, finishing 2nd in 1:50:01 and moving from 19th to 18th among women in that same closing stretch — a solid negative split in the making. Shannon Allen, racing on home turf in Huntsville, claimed 3rd in 1:54:41, also gaining ground on the women's field over the final miles. Christy Ruble (1:58:25) and Joy Martin (2:01:04) rounded out the top five, both moving up in the women's standings from 10K to the finish.

Further back, the race settled into a series of close battles. Kari Tibbs and Angie Hogeland were separated by just 48 seconds for 6th and 7th, while the cluster from 11th (Laura Hargrove, 2:19:53) to 13th (Melissa Hager, 2:20:59) was decided by barely a minute. Eva Courtney closed it out in 2:48:24, with all 19 finishers crossing the line — no small feat in a December morning that felt anything but December-like.