Molly Mae

Ah.

A start:

It's just a letter substitution. 1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C, etc.

It is! Nice solve.

Named for the first wherever you go Hundreds of cycles in column and row. Grouped into teams oft coloured the same. Hardly one in each will ever earn fame. The race will begin when ball touches ground Millions of cheers can be heard all around. You expect it to start when northern half cools, But location may often vary the rules. Too fast or too slow, not so much a race, As all are required to maintain one pace.

Clarification question:

Yeah, I was assuming no false paths. Allowing for false paths makes this difficult problem yet more difficult.

EDIT: For clarity, I use "number" to reference an individual digit. I use "sequence" to reference the string of numbers. EDIT2: Added spoiler tag.

Hmmm...

Signature updated!

Ouch

interestingly:

Another factor to possibly consider...

Further:

This is actually great. I learned something! Explanations like this are the reasons I keep coming back to BD. If I had the power, I'd give you a gold star.