Rocket City Front Half: Janice Sutton edges Denise Wilfong by one second in F65-69

• Sutton wins by the narrowest of margins: 2:18:37 to 2:18:38 — one second separating first and second among eight F65-69 finishers.
• Wilfong ran the stronger first half — entering the 10K checkpoint 28 places ahead of Sutton among the women — but Sutton flipped the script on the back half to claim the title.
• Sandra Yocum, 69, rounds out the podium at 2:30:06, the oldest finisher in the top three.
• Sutton posted the 72nd-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-Finish stretch; Wilfong's 104th-fastest on that same segment tells the story of where the race was decided.

Warm, windy, and humid for December in Huntsville — 70°F, 17 mph winds, and 76% humidity — this was no easy day for anyone, and the F65-69 group navigated it with grit. The headline story is as tight as it gets: Janice Sutton of Madison, AL and Denise Wilfong of Carmel, IN crossed the finish line in 2:18:37 and 2:18:38 respectively, a single second deciding who stood on top of the podium. The places are official, the gap is real, and it was earned over 13.1 miles at a 10:34 pace.

What makes it even more compelling is how it unfolded. Wilfong was the stronger runner through the first 10K, sitting 28 places ahead of Sutton in the women's field at that checkpoint. But from 10K to the finish, Sutton was the faster woman — her split ranked 72nd among all women in the race, compared to Wilfong's 104th. That closing surge was exactly enough, and not a step more.

Sandra Yocum of Dayton, OH claimed third at 2:30:06 — nearly 12 minutes back, but notable as the group's eldest podium finisher at 69. She also gained ground in the women's field over the final stretch, moving from 115th to 109th. Meg Lehigh (2:33:09) held steady in fourth, maintaining her women's field position through the second half, while Cindy Moeller and Kathy Elliott of Madison, AL rounded out the middle of the field. Casey Campbell and Sue Prueitt, both from Seattle, completed the eight-finisher group — a long way from home on a warm Alabama December morning.