Rocket City Half Marathon: Cote-Miles leads the F70-74 charge

• Patricia Cote-Miles won the F70-74 age group in 3:44:35, averaging 17:08 per mile across the 13.1-mile course.
• Mary Hollingsworth completed the pair in 4:03:42 — a gap of 19:07 between the two finishers.
• Cote-Miles posted the 442nd-fastest women's split on the 8M→Finish stretch, gaining a place in the women's field over that closing segment.
• Hollingsworth, running at 18:35 per mile, lost a spot among the women on that same closing stretch.

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Only two women toed the line in the F70-74 age group at the 2024 Rocket City Marathon Half Marathon, but both delivered on a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast, with a light 9 mph breeze keeping things manageable.

Patricia Cote-Miles, 73, of Tyrone, Georgia, was the stronger of the pair from the outset. She held her composure through the closing miles, picking off one competitor in the broader women's field on the 8-mile-to-finish segment and crossing in 3:44:35 at a steady 17:08-per-mile clip. That's a disciplined effort for any athlete, let alone one competing in her eighth decade.

Mary Hollingsworth, 70, of Rogers, Arkansas, finished in 4:03:42 — 19 minutes and 7 seconds behind Cote-Miles. Her 18:35-per-mile average tells the story of a harder back half; she dropped a spot among the women on that same closing stretch where Cote-Miles was moving forward. Still, crossing a half marathon finish line at 70 is its own achievement, and Hollingsworth did exactly that.

Two finishers, two very different closing halves — and a clear winner in Cote-Miles, who ran the more controlled race from start to finish.