Rocket City Half Marathon: Geri Morris Tops the F75-79 Age Group

• Geri Morris won the F75-79 age group in 2:29:03 (11:22/mi), finishing 428th among women overall.
• Jackie Hobbs completed the field in 3:07:11 (14:17/mi), a gap of 38 minutes and 8 seconds back.
• Morris posted the 420th-fastest women's split on the closing 6.8M-to-Finish segment; Hobbs clocked the 674th-fastest on the same stretch.
• Both women gained ground in the women's field over the second half of the race, each moving up through the standings after the 6.8-mile mark.

With just two women toeing the line in the F75-79 age group on a frigid 29°F morning in Huntsville — wind cutting at 16 mph — every step was a statement. Geri Morris, making the trip down from Traverse City, Michigan, made hers count. She crossed in 2:29:03, sustaining an 11:22-per-mile pace across 13.1 miles in conditions that would have stopped most runners cold.

Morris was the more assertive runner in the back half of the race. She moved from 442nd to 428th among women after the 6.8-mile mark, picking off runners on the way home and recording the 420th-fastest closing split in the women's field. That kind of forward momentum in a half marathon, in biting cold, speaks to a well-managed effort.

Jackie Hobbs, racing on home turf in Huntsville, finished in 3:07:11 — a 14:17/mi pace that still represents a genuine commitment to covering 13.1 miles in challenging weather. She too gained places in the women's field over the closing stretch, moving from 718th to 699th. The 38-minute gap between the two was wide, but both women finished, which on a day like this is the baseline accomplishment everything else is built on.