Rocket City 10K: Brunick Wins M45-49 with a Sub-7:10 Pace

• Daniel Brunick (45, Meridianville, AL) took the M45-49 title in 44:11 — a 7:07/mi clip that put nearly 45 seconds of daylight between him and runner-up John Lemieux.
• The podium gap: Lemieux's 44:55 (7:14/mi) held off Scott Sandlin's 46:20 (7:27/mi) by 1:25 — a comfortable margin, but the top three were well clear of the rest of the field.
• Middle of the pack: Places 4 through 13 were separated by just over eight minutes, with Casey Carter (51:27) through Louis Angotti (58:16) trading roughly 8:17–9:23/mi paces across a tight cluster.
• Back of the field: The 21-finisher group spread across a 31-minute window from Brunick's 44:11 to the final recorded finisher near the 1:15 mark.

Daniel Brunick set the tone early and never let up. His 7:07/mi average is the kind of pace that doesn't leave much room for error over 6.2 miles — and on a mild December morning in Huntsville, he delivered. John Lemieux, making the trip down from Lithia, Florida, gave chase and held strong at 7:14/mi, but Brunick's 44-second cushion at the line was never seriously threatened. Scott Sandlin, racing on home turf in Huntsville, rounded out the podium at 46:20.

Behind the top three, the race became a different kind of battle. Michael Holder (50:45) and Casey Carter (51:27) were the next to break the tape, separated by just 42 seconds and both hovering around the 8:10–8:17/mi range. Jon Teisher made the longest road trip in the group — arriving from Old Colorado City, Colorado — and rewarded himself with a 52:35 and 6th place. Robert Schnabel and Jason Deem were nearly inseparable at 7th and 8th, finishing 53:47 and 54:06 respectively, just 19 seconds apart.

Further back, Joshua Krevy and Prakash Singh were locked in their own duel, crossing in 56:07 and 56:18 — an 11-second gap after 6.2 miles of racing. All 21 men in the M45-49 group got it done on a cool, breezy Huntsville morning, spanning a 31-minute range that tells the full story of a competitive and well-attended age group.