Rocket City Half Marathon M50-54: Graves Races to the Title in Bitter Cold

• Scott Graves wins the M50-54 age group in 1:37:50 (7:28/mi), pulling away from a 51-man field on a frigid 29°F morning in Huntsville.
• Jody Cardwell finishes 2nd in 1:38:38 — a sharp drop from his 1:31:27 here in 2023, but still strong enough to claim the runner-up spot by 48 seconds.
• Matt Swoboda takes 3rd in 1:44:05, making a notable move on the back half — gaining 15 places in the men's field from 6.8 miles to the finish.
• Places 6 through 9 are decided within a 53-second window (1:52:03 to 1:52:56), making for one of the tightest mid-pack clusters of the morning.

Scott Graves ran a controlled, confident race in the M50-54 age group, clocking 7:28/mi across 13.1 miles in conditions that made every pace point count — 29°F, a 16 mph wind, and clear Alabama skies that offered no shelter. He moved steadily through the men's field in the second half, gaining six places from 6.8 miles to the finish, and crossed in 1:37:50 to take the age-group title by 48 seconds.

Jody Cardwell, the 2023 Rocket City Half runner-up here in the men's field with a 1:31:27, returned to claim 2nd in M50-54 at 1:38:38 — a different race, a different day, but still a clear podium result. He and Graves were the only two men in the age group to break 1:40, separating themselves cleanly from the rest of the field. Matt Swoboda rounded out the podium in 1:44:05, his surge on the back half — climbing from 108th to 93rd in the men's field over the final stretch — earning him 3rd place at 7:56/mi.

Philip Duffie (4th, 1:45:49) and Brad Kropfelder (5th, 1:49:25) completed the top five, with Kropfelder fading slightly over the final miles, dropping 11 places in the men's field from 6.8 miles to the finish. Then came a remarkable logjam: Vicente Rivera (6th, 1:52:03), Brandon Keller (7th, 1:52:24), Antonio Munoz (8th, 1:52:35), and John McGuire (9th, 1:52:56) all finished within 53 seconds of one another — four men in their fifties racing hard to the line in the cold. Craig Eggleton and Ian Worth both clocked 1:54:10 and 1:54:18 respectively for 10th and 11th, before the field spread out toward the back of the 51-finisher group.