M35-39 at Rocket City Half: Heiser dominates in brutal cold

• Andrew Heiser (35, Nashville TN) won the M35-39 group in 1:18:11 — a 5:58/mi average that left the field 13 minutes and 51 seconds behind second place.
• Jason Devore (36) took 2nd in 1:32:02, with Daichi Hagita (37) claiming 3rd in 1:35:29 — a 3-minute, 27-second gap between them.
• Dalton Walsh and Brandt Frye battled hard for 4th, finishing 1:36:38 and 1:36:47 — just nine seconds separating them after 13.1 miles in 29°F wind.
• 76 men finished in M35-39, with the top 20 ranging from 1:18:11 down to 1:58:15.

With 29°F temperatures, a 16 mph wind, and clear skies over Huntsville, the Rocket City Half Marathon served up a demanding morning — and Andrew Heiser treated it like a training run. His 5:58/mi average was simply in a different category from everyone else in the M35-39 field. He was running among the men's top finishers overall, holding 6th place in the men's race at the 6.8-mile mark before settling to 7th by the finish — a performance that made the age-group result feel almost academic from the gun.

The real racing happened in the chase pack. Jason Devore (7:01/mi) held 2nd comfortably, but Daichi Hagita (3rd, 7:17/mi) and Dalton Walsh (4th, 7:22/mi) kept things honest behind him. Hagita actually gained a spot in the men's field over the back half — moving from 56th to 54th among men on the 6.8M-to-finish segment — while Walsh held steady at 60th. Brandt Frye, also of Gurley AL, ran alongside Walsh for much of the race only to fade slightly in the closing miles, slipping from 55th to 61st among men and finishing nine seconds back in 5th.

Beyond the top five, the group spread out steadily. Kyle Parks (6th, 1:40:27) and Ryan Tanner (7th, 1:42:16) put nearly four minutes between themselves and Frye, and Cameron Johns (8th, 1:42:29) was just 13 seconds further back. The cold and wind clearly sorted the field — the gap from 1st to 20th stretched nearly 40 minutes, a reminder that a fast morning in Huntsville in December requires more than just showing up.