Braden was born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1973 where his father was a full time minister of the gospel for a non-denominational Christian church. The family relocated to Elberton, GA when Braden was age three. Braden spent his childhood and early years in Elberton and learned to love Georgia. The family moved again to Eden, North Carolina when his father accepted another calling from a church. The family remained in Eden where Braden completed high school at John Motley Morehead High School.
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Young Braden and future wife HeatherAfter graduation Braden’s father decided to leave the ministry and open a restaurant in Albany, Georgia with Braden’s grandfather. Braden waited three years to join his father in Albany and also enlisted in the U.S Marine Corp (USMC) at that time. He worked in the family restaurant business while serving in the Marine Corp reserves for six years. Braden married his childhood sweetheart, Heather in 1997, and they opened their own BBQ restaurant in Albany. Unfortunately, like most of us, Braden was not ready for prime time and the BBQ restaurant “failed miserably”. The failed restaurant did teach Braden and Heather some valuable lessons. After two years and two children, the restaurant closed. The experience resulted in Braden opening two Hot Dog King Restaurants in the Albany area that he has successfully run for thirteen years and counting. Along with his parents, the family now operates three Hot Dog King and Kregg’s BBQ restaurants in Albany.
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The Miller FamilyLike all agile, mobile, hostile military service types, Braden had to run in the service and continued to do so when it was no longer a job necessity. Braden reemerged as a runner in December 2010 when he and his oldest daughter, Ramsay, participated in the Albany Jingle Jog 5K. After several more races, they were introduced to the Run and See Georgia series by the South Georgia running ambassador Brenda Gail Wall. Daughter Ramsay and dad have run in hundreds of races in all three series over the last few years. They both earned Clover Glove jackets in 2014 and Ramsay took her age group in the Black Bag Race Series while Braden finished 3rd in his competitive age group. Running in all those 5K races have led to running in 10K races which has led to half marathons and now full marathons, culminating in the upcoming New York City Marathon in November 2015.
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Braden and Ramsay in ChicagoBraden credits running with providing quality time spent with his supportive and active running family, wife Heather, children Ramsay age 15, Mattie age 13, and Jax age 10. Braden has extended his expertise into teaching several running classes at Albany Christian Church and joining the cross country coaching staff at Lee County High School as a community coach. Braden has learned that “inspiring others to run is so much more important that setting personal records”. He is so thankful for the way other runners have encouraged, supported, and welcomed him and his family into such a great group of inspiring runners.
Bob checking out from the back of the pack. Watch for the profile on the running Reed family (Allyson, Hannah, and Lauren) and on Kennesaw State Owl Daniel Williams.