Rocket City Marathon F20-24: Bella Butler Runs Away With It in the Cold

• Bella Butler, 20, wins the F20-24 age group in 2:49:12 (6:27/mi), holding 2nd among all women at the finish line in 29°F conditions.
• Riley Davis returns to Rocket City and improves: her 3:01:17 betters her 2023 finish of 3:04:29 for 2nd in the age group, 6th among women.
• Molly Ramirez, the comeback story of the age group: she ran the 19th-fastest women's split from the half to mile 20, climbing from 26th among women at the 10K all the way to 14th by the finish — a gain of 12 spots in the women's field.
• Alison Ray faded dramatically: sitting 5th among women through the half, she dropped to 25th among women by the end — a stark contrast to a strong early pace of 7:45/mi average.

Bella Butler didn't just win the F20-24 age group on a frigid Sunday morning in Huntsville — she dominated it. The 20-year-old from Dayton, Ohio, crossed in 2:49:12, running a 6:27-per-mile clip that placed her 2nd among all women at the finish. She sat 3rd among women from the 10K through the half, where she posted the 4th-fastest women's split of that stretch, then made her decisive move in the back half to claim 2nd among women overall. Her nearest age-group rival, Riley Davis, finished more than 12 minutes back at 3:01:17.

Davis, 24, made the trip from Vestavia Hills worth it. Racing Rocket City for at least the second time, she shaved more than three minutes off her 3:04:29 from 2023, finishing 6th among women and 2nd in the age group with a 6:55/mi average. She ran a steady, controlled race — 6th among women's split holders from the 10K to the half — and held her position through the finish.

The most dramatic arc in the age group belonged to Molly Ramirez, 23, of Enterprise, Alabama. She was buried 26th among women at the 10K, still 23rd at the half, but then ran the 19th-fastest women's split from the half to mile 20 and kept climbing, finishing 3rd in the age group in 3:17:18 and 14th among women. Alison Ray told the opposite story: strong through the half while sitting 5th among women, she faded to 25th among women by the tape, finishing 4th in the age group at 3:23:22. Allison Holmes, 21, rounded out the top five at 3:24:24, followed by Mary Beth Woodward (3:26:24), Carson Jaworski (3:29:32), and Madison Sanschagrin (3:32:43) to close out a competitive top eight on a brutally cold morning.