Rocket City Marathon: Que Pham Owns the F75-79 Field

• Sole finisher and champion: Que Pham, 76, crossed in 5:49:28 — the only woman to toe the line and finish in the F75-79 age group.
• Closing stretch: Pham posted the 436th-fastest women's split on the 20M-to-Finish segment, holding her ground in a brutally cold field.
• Conditions: 29°F with a 16 mph wind at the start — a genuine test of resolve for any marathoner, let alone one running 13:20 per mile across 26.2 miles.

There was one name on the F75-79 results sheet, and it belonged to Que Pham of Houston, Texas. The 76-year-old did what very few people her age attempt anywhere — she ran a full marathon in the dead of winter, finishing in 5:49:28 at a steady 13:20-per-mile pace. In a field where showing up already separates you from nearly everyone, Pham went the full distance.

The conditions made the achievement sharper. Huntsville woke up to 29°F and a 16 mph wind on race morning — the kind of cold that sends recreational runners back to bed. Pham ran through it. Her position among the women fluctuated across the middle miles, drifting from 429th to 438th and back to 431st by the finish, a sign she was navigating the race actively rather than simply surviving it.

Her 20M-to-Finish split ranked 436th among all women in the field — not a number that jumps off the page, but context matters: she was still moving, still racing, in the final 10K of a marathon in freezing temperatures at age 76. There is no one to compare her to in F75-79 today, because no one else was there. Que Pham is the Rocket City Marathon F75-79 champion, and she earned it on every cold, windy mile.