Rocket City 5K: Cynthia Mitchell Leads a Sharp F45-49 Field in Huntsville

• Cynthia Mitchell took the F45-49 win in 24:24 (7:51/mi), finishing 34 seconds clear of runner-up Kerriann Martin.
• Kerriann Martin (24:58, 8:02/mi) held 2nd comfortably, with Farrah Coley another 1:40 back in 3rd at 26:38.
• The top three all broke 27 minutes, separating themselves clearly from the rest of the 18-woman field.
• Amy Cosgrove's recorded time of 9:26:49 stands out as a data anomaly and almost certainly reflects a timing issue rather than an actual finish.

Cynthia Mitchell of Athens, AL set the tone from the start, running a crisp 7:51-per-mile pace across the 5K course on a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast, about as good as race-day weather gets in Alabama in December. Her 24:24 was the class of the F45-49 group, and it wasn't particularly close at the front. Kerriann Martin of Opelika gave chase and finished a solid 2nd in 24:58, running 8:02/mi — a strong effort in her own right, just not quite enough to close the gap.

Farrah Coley of Riverside rounded out the podium in 26:38 (8:34/mi), holding off the rest of the field by a comfortable margin. Fifth-place Erin Stewart of Owens Cross Roads finished in 28:00 at 9:01/mi, making the gap from 3rd to 5th just under 1:22 — close enough that the middle of the pack had a genuine race on their hands. Chandra Palanichamy (32:26) and Molly Jones (34:16) continued to fill out a competitive mid-field.

At the back of the group, Liza Miranda, Lori Jewell, and Claire Gongon were separated by just 1:12 across 10th through 12th place, with all three finishing between 41:30 and 42:42 — a tight little cluster that made for its own quiet battle down the stretch. Tara Hicks of Conway, AR closed out the F45-49 field in 58:01, completing all 18 finishers on the day.