Rocket City 5K: Libby dominates the M55-59 field on a frigid Huntsville morning

• Eric Libby won the M55-59 age group in 25:25 (8:11/mi), finishing more than two minutes clear of the field.
• Larken Reese claimed 2nd in 27:27, with Lenny Chartier rounding out the podium in 29:24 — a gap of nearly two minutes between 2nd and 3rd.
• Places 5 and 6 went to Daniel Allen and Wayne Davis, both clocking 31:04 — separated only by the timing chip, not the clock.
• 21 men finished in the M55-59 age group, spread across a range of more than 21 minutes from first to last listed.

With temperatures locked at 29°F and a 16 mph wind biting through Huntsville, the M55-59 field of 21 toed the line for a brisk Rocket City 5K — and Eric Libby, 59, from nearby Madison, made it look almost comfortable. His 8:11/mi average produced a 25:25 finish that no one in the group came close to matching. Reese, from Stockbridge, Georgia, ran a solid 27:27 for 2nd, but the real buffer was already established: two full minutes separated winner from runner-up, and another two separated Reese from Chartier's 29:24 in 3rd.

Behind the podium, the race tightened considerably. Todd Shaklee (30:53) and Daniel Allen (31:04) were separated by just 11 seconds, and then came the most dramatic moment of the results sheet: Allen and Wayne Davis both stopped the clock at 31:04. The places differ — Allen 5th, Davis 6th — meaning Davis crossed the line just a heartbeat behind. George Dove (31:14) and Forrest Bridges (31:45) kept that middle cluster competitive, with only 51 seconds covering four men from 4th through 8th.

The back half of the field spread out across a wider range, from Matthew Weiss's 34:36 in 9th to a finishing window that stretched past the 46-minute mark. All 21 men who finished earned it — running 3.1 miles in 29-degree cold with a stiff wind is no small thing regardless of the clock. But on this morning in Huntsville, it was Libby's race from the gun.