Jen Hitchings Wins Rocket City Marathon
Hitchings nearing the finish at the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville
This morning, Sacramento’s Jenny Hitchings won the Huntsville, Alabama Rocket City Marathon.
After a near miss earlier this year in Eugene (2:46:10), Hitchings was aiming for an Olympic Trials qualifying time at last weekend’s CIM.
Fairly early in the race, she was off pace and knew it was not going to happen, so she dropped at the half-marathon point. Later that day, she joked a bit with me about finding another marathon to run the following weekend, before the qualifying window closes.
It turns out she was only sort of joking.
It was cold and windy in Huntsville this morning, and Hitchings says it wasn’t the best course to run a qualifying time due to the many turns and an uphill finish.
In the end, she didn’t hit the qualifying mark she was looking for. But running alone, she did get the women’s win and finished 18th overall in 2:51:27.
The men’s winner was Kenyan Daniel Kirwa, who finished in 2:20:05.
Complete results are here.
Ms. Hitchings gave it her best shot, TWICE. She should have no regrets. The win should at least be a nice consolation prize.
She is a classy lady and runner.
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