Masters Women: Clayton Commands the Cold in Huntsville

• Jenny Clayton (1:32:23, 7:03/mi) won the Masters Women race and finished 10th among all women — and closed with the 10th-fastest women's split on the 6.8M–Finish stretch.
• Julie Vieselmeyer ran 1:33:58 to take 2nd, gaining a spot among women in the second half; the gap to Clayton was 1:35.
• Kathryn Dahir, 58, claimed 3rd in 1:36:20 — a striking 6:38 improvement over her 1:42:58 here in 2023, when she finished 9th among women.
• The top five were separated by just under nine minutes, with Jennifer Hom rounding out that group in 5th at 1:41:17 (7:44/mi).

Twenty-nine degrees, clear skies, and a 16 mph wind greeted 331 Masters Women on the streets of Huntsville — conditions that demanded respect from the first mile. Jenny Clayton of Franklin, TN, gave them none. Running 7:03/mi, she crossed in 1:32:23 to claim the Masters Women title and hold her 10th-place standing among all women across both halves of the race. Her closing stretch was equally sharp — the 10th-fastest women's split on the 6.8M-to-Finish leg told the story of a runner who didn't just survive the cold, she finished into it.

Julie Vieselmeyer of Madison, AL, was the day's quiet mover in the top tier, gaining a spot among women in the back half to finish 2nd in 1:33:58 (7:10/mi). She ran the closing stretch faster than Clayton's pace gap might suggest — the 14th-fastest women's split there — chipping into the lead but ultimately unable to close a 1:35 deficit. Third place belongs to Kathryn Dahir of Nashville, and it's a result worth pausing on: the 58-year-old ran 1:36:20, nearly seven minutes faster than the 1:42:58 she posted here in 2023. That kind of improvement, at that age, on a frigid December morning, is the real headline of the podium.

Kelly Burt (4th, 1:39:04) and Jennifer Hom (5th, 1:41:17) kept the pressure on through the finish, with Burt running the 18th- and Hom the 21st-fastest women's closing splits — both gaining ground among women in the second half. Behind the top five, the Masters Women field stretched deep, with Mia Gentle (6th, 1:42:56) through Roberta Hauck (20th, 1:55:28) filling out a competitive top 20 across 331 finishers who all chose to race a half marathon in near-freezing wind. That's a field worth celebrating on its own.