Rocket City Marathon Back Half: Kimber Riggle Owns the M0-14 Field

• Solo finisher, sole champion: Kimber Riggle, 14, from Madison, AL, is the only M0-14 finisher — and that makes her the undisputed winner.
• Finish time: 11:29:47 at a 52:37/mi average pace across the half marathon distance.
• Closing stretch: Riggle posted the 226th-fastest women's split on the 10K-to-Finish segment, holding her own in a large women's field.
• Field position: She moved from 45th to 225th among women across the race — a reflection of the field's dynamics late in the event.

Kimber Riggle came to Huntsville on a warm, blustery December morning — 70°F with 17 mph winds and thick humidity that made the air feel heavier than the calendar suggested — and she left as the M0-14 champion. At 14 years old, she was the only finisher in the age group, which makes her result no less real: she toed the line, covered the distance, and crossed the finish.

The numbers tell a candid story. An 11:29:47 finish at a 52:37/mi pace is a significant effort over a half marathon, and doing it in those conditions adds context. The wind and humidity were factors for every runner on the course, and Riggle worked through all of it.

On the 10K-to-Finish stretch, she ranked 226th among women — not a blistering closing split, but a split nonetheless, logged in a competitive women's field. Her overall women's position slipped from 45th to 225th as the race wore on, which tells you the field was deep and fast ahead of her. But none of that changes what matters in the M0-14 group: Kimber Riggle finished, and she finished first.