Rocket City Half Marathon M60-64: Tamez Dominates, Angotta Storms the Back Half

• Gerard Tamez won the M60-64 group in 1:37:38 (7:27/mi) — more than 10 minutes clear of second place.
• William Angotta climbed from 30th to 27th among men on the 10K→Finish leg, posting the 22nd-fastest split on that closing stretch to edge Zoltan Szabo by 37 seconds for third.
• Art Ibers and Steven Kelley — both from Gaithersburg, MD — finished 10th and 11th separated by just one second (2:13:35 vs. 2:13:36).
• 14 men finished in M60-64, with times ranging from 1:37:38 to 3:54:06.

Gerard Tamez made this one look straightforward. The 62-year-old from New Market ran a 7:27/mi average — a pace that held up well in warm, windy conditions (70°F, 17 mph winds, and 76% humidity) — and crossed in 1:37:38, a full 10 minutes and 32 seconds ahead of Zoltan Szabo in second. He also posted the 11th-fastest 10K→Finish split among the men, meaning he didn't just lead — he closed well.

Behind Tamez, the battle for the podium was more competitive than the final times suggest. Szabo (1:48:10) and William Angotta (1:48:47) were separated by only 37 seconds, but they got there differently. Szabo held steady while Angotta was moving — his 22nd-fastest closing split among the men helped him climb three places in the men's field over the back half. Duane Ricketts (1:50:41) and Roger Smalligan (1:52:52) rounded out the top five, though Ricketts faded slightly, dropping from 27th to 31st among the men on that same stretch.

The Gaithersburg connection provided one of the race's tightest finishes: Art Ibers and Steven Kelley, both 60-somethings making the trip from Maryland, crossed in 2:13:35 and 2:13:36 respectively — one second apart after more than two hours of running in the Alabama heat. Both were running 10:11/mi on the day, and the timing chip settled it. Meanwhile, the back of the M60-64 field spread out considerably, with John Pareti finishing in 3:54:06 — a reminder that in this group, just getting to the line is its own achievement.