Rocket City Half Marathon M65-69: Ricketts Runs Away in the Cold

• Duane Ricketts won the M65-69 age group in 1:48:22 (8:16/mi), nearly 9 minutes clear of runner-up Andrew Carr.
• Andrew Carr (2nd, 1:57:01) and Michael Schleider (3rd, 2:07:10) both gained places on the men's field over the final 6.8 miles to the finish.
• The gap from 1st to 14th spanned 1:44:08, reflecting a wide range of effort across 14 finishers on a frigid 29°F morning.
• Six of the 14 finishers were clustered within 15 minutes of each other in places 5 through 10.

Huntsville greeted the M65-69 field with 29°F temperatures and a 16 mph wind on Sunday morning — conditions that would test anyone, let alone a group of athletes ranging from 65 to 68 years old. Duane Ricketts, 65, from Cullman, Alabama, was unfazed. He crossed the line in 1:48:22 at an 8:16/mi average, a commanding performance that put nearly nine minutes of daylight between himself and the rest of the age group.

Andrew Carr of Alpharetta, Georgia finished 2nd in 1:57:01 (8:56/mi), and actually gained ten spots in the men's field over the final 6.8 miles — a strong close on a cold day. Michael Schleider of Gurley, Alabama rounded out the podium in 2:07:10 (9:42/mi), also finishing faster than he started relative to the broader men's field, climbing 23 spots in those final miles.

Behind the podium, the race grew tightly contested. Michael Peters (4th, 2:14:48) and Daniel Borsos (5th, 2:17:56) were separated by just over three minutes, with Gary Chatham (6th, 2:19:09) and Wayne Davis (7th, 2:19:32) packed even tighter — only 23 seconds apart. Tim Cummings of Huntsville finished 8th in 2:27:20, while Frank Dobrinski (9th, 2:35:43) and Martin Blethen (10th, 2:54:19) rounded out the top ten.

The final four finishers — George Killian (11th, 2:54:36), John Morgan (12th, 3:13:44), William Murphy (13th, 3:19:44), and Duane Diegel (14th, 3:32:30) — all completed the half marathon in conditions that would have kept many people indoors. Every finisher in this age group earned their result on a legitimately tough winter morning in Huntsville.