Rocket City 5K — F55-59: Lisa Ray Runs Away With It in the Cold

• Lisa Ray (55, Brownsburg, IN) won the F55-59 age group in 26:45 at an 8:37/mi clip — a full 2:04 ahead of 2nd place.
• Tight battle for 3rd and 4th: Cathy Mickelsen (29:14) and Leah Gallant (29:42) were separated by just 28 seconds across 3.1 miles.
• Top-five spread: Lisa Hughey rounded out the top five in 31:39 — nearly five minutes back from Ray, underscoring how dominant the front of this race was.
• 30 women finished in F55-59, with times ranging from 26:45 to well past the 44-minute mark.

With 29°F temperatures and a 16 mph wind cutting through Huntsville, Alabama, conditions on race morning were legitimately harsh — but Lisa Ray didn't seem to notice. The 55-year-old from Brownsburg, Indiana, crossed in 26:45, averaging 8:37 per mile to take the F55-59 title by a commanding two-minute margin. That kind of gap in a 5K doesn't happen by accident; Ray was simply running a different race than the rest of the field.

Vicki Curran of Melbourne, Florida, was the clear runner-up at 28:49, with Cathy Mickelsen (Robertsdale, AL) earning third in 29:14. Those two were separated by 25 seconds, and Leah Gallant of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, kept it interesting in fourth at 29:42 — just 28 seconds behind Mickelsen. The podium-plus-one battle was the most compelling subplot of the morning, with three athletes covering 28 seconds of racing for positions two through four.

From there, the field stretched out in earnest. Lisa Hughey (Dalton, GA) held fifth in 31:39, and Tracy Cross and Lynda Schnedl filled out the 33-minute range in sixth and seventh. By the time the back half of the top 20 came through — Deb Hankins and Janice Wright both clocking around 44 minutes — it was clear this was a group that embraced the challenge of racing 3.1 miles in near-freezing wind. All 30 of them did exactly that.