Rocket City 10K: Whilding Rules the M65-69 Field

• Sam Whilding won the M65-69 age group in 1:17:08 (12:25/mi), finishing more than 3 minutes clear of the field.
• Duane Diegel claimed 2nd in 1:20:25, holding off Hank Lopez (3rd, 1:24:12) by nearly 4 minutes.
• John McCusker rounded out the four-man group in 1:25:01, just 49 seconds behind Lopez.
• All four finished within 8 minutes of each other — a tight spread across a competitive M65-69 field on a frigid 29°F morning.

Sam Whilding, 69 years old and traveling from Papillion, Nebraska, delivered the standout performance of the M65-69 age group. Running 12:25 per mile through the cold and 16 mph wind in Huntsville, he crossed in 1:17:08 — a margin that left no doubt at the front. The fact that he's the oldest man in the group and still the fastest by over three minutes makes the result all the more striking.

Behind him, Duane Diegel of Abingdon, Maryland made 2nd place his own with a 1:20:25 finish at 12:57/mi. Hank Lopez (North Berwick, Maine) pushed hard but came in at 1:24:12, nearly four minutes back of Diegel. The gap between 2nd and 3rd was the widest of the three inter-finisher margins — that middle stretch of the race is where Diegel separated himself from the bottom half of the group.

The closest contest of the day came at the back, where John McCusker of Canton, Georgia finished 4th in 1:25:01 — just 49 seconds behind Lopez. In a race where the front was already settled, those two were effectively running their own battle, and McCusker couldn't quite close the gap. Still, all four men completed a 10K in brutal winter conditions, with temperatures barely above freezing and a stiff wind making every mile feel longer than it looked on the map.