Rocket City Half Marathon M0-14: Braden Rimes edges Charlie Reynolds in an all-Huntsville battle

• Braden Rimes, 13, won the M0-14 age group in 1:57:18 at an 8:57/mi average.
• Charlie Reynolds, 12, finished 2nd — just 1:31 behind — at a 9:04/mi average.
• Both athletes are Huntsville locals, making this a true hometown showdown.
• Reynolds, a year younger than Rimes, matched his rival stride for stride through 10K before the gap opened on the back half.

With only two finishers in the M0-14 age group, this was an intimate race-within-a-race — but don't let the small field fool you. Running a half marathon at 12 and 13 years old in 70°F heat with 17 mph winds and thick humidity is no small feat, and both boys from Huntsville showed they belonged on the course.

Braden Rimes set the tone early, and while Charlie Reynolds kept him honest through the first 10K, Rimes began to pull clear on the 10K-to-Finish stretch. His 1:57:18 — averaging 8:57 per mile across 13.1 miles — held up as the winning time. Reynolds, running at 9:04/mi, couldn't quite close the gap and crossed in 1:58:49, 91 seconds back.

What makes Reynolds' performance quietly remarkable is the age gap. At 12 years old, he was pushing a 13-year-old to a sub-1:58 finish in challenging conditions. Both boys finished respectably within the broader men's field, and their closing splits from 10K to the finish were nearly identical in character — Rimes posting the 52nd-fastest split in that segment among men, Reynolds the 53rd.

Rimes takes the M0-14 title, but this one has the feel of a rivalry worth watching.