F35-39: Sarah Crouch Dominates in the Cold, Running 1:18:56 to Win the Age Group

• Crouch's winning margin: 15 minutes and 6 seconds over runner-up Sylvia Rylee — a commanding gap in a 92-woman field.
• Fastest closing kick: Crouch posted the fastest second-half split (6.8M→Finish) among all women in the race, surging from 2nd to 1st among women on that stretch.
• Podium spread: Just over 2 minutes separated 2nd (Rylee, 1:34:02) from 3rd (Alissa Palladino, 1:36:22), with Palladino fading slightly — moving from 13th to 16th among women on the back half.
• Rebecca Girten's strong finish: The 4th-place finisher moved up five spots among women (31st to 26th) on the closing segment, posting the 27th-fastest women's split on that stretch.

Twenty-nine degrees, a 16 mph wind, and clear skies greeted 92 women in the F35-39 age group in Huntsville, and Sarah Crouch of Madison, AL treated those conditions like a non-factor. Running 6:01 per mile, she finished in 1:18:56 — a time that speaks for itself on any day, let alone one this raw. She arrived at the midpoint sitting 2nd among women, then seized the lead with the fastest women's split on the 6.8-mile-to-finish stretch, pulling away to win the age group by more than a quarter hour.

Behind Crouch, the race for the podium was tighter and more tactical. Sylvia Rylee of Huntsville held on for 2nd in 1:34:02 at 7:10 per mile, though she slipped one spot among women on the back half, dropping from 11th to 12th. Palladino of Atlanta crossed 3rd in 1:36:22, also losing a little ground in the women's field late — moving from 13th to 16th — but her 7:21-per-mile average was still strong enough to hold off the rest of the age group comfortably.

The 4th-through-6th spots offered their own subplot. Rebecca Girten of Henderson, KY ran the back half with purpose, climbing five places among women to finish 4th in 1:43:39. Amanda Gant (5th, 1:47:41) and Maggie Wolgamot (6th, 1:51:23) rounded out the top six, with a cluster of finishers bunching up between 1:53 and 2:00 for places 7 through 15. In a tough field of 92 on a cold December morning in Alabama, the F35-39 age group delivered a decisive winner and plenty of racing behind her.