by Larry Eder
Molly Huddle, AR HM at Aramco Houston, January 2018, photo by PhotoRun.net
It was July 2010. I was with Mark Bossardet, former VP for Sports Marketing at Saucony and her sponsor. We had just watched Molly Huddle race at the Birmingham DL meeting. Molly told Boz that she was going to hang in Europe for ten more days. Ten days later, finishing ninth in the Memorial Ivo Van Damme 5000 meters, Molly Huddle broke the 5000 meter American record of one Shalane Flanagan, running 14:44.76. Molly Huddle knew she had the record inside her, and she would not go home until she had found that race. Lesson one on Molly Huddle: she is driven.
Move forward to July 18, 2014. I was sitting in the Stade Louis II, in Fontvielle, Monaco. A near perfect night for distance running, I watched Shannon Rowbury on the shoulder of Molly Huddle for 12 laps. In the prior June, Molly Huddle went by Shannon Rowbury at the 2014 USATF outdoors in the 5000 meters. Rowbury was ready to nip Huddle at the finish, but Molly Huddle kept her cool, and set a new AR of 14:42.64 Two years later, on September 9, 2016, Shannon Rowbury took the AR in the 5,000 meters. Molly congratulated Shannon on twitter.
Molly Huddle, 10,000m USA (Shalane Flanagan, Emily Sisson, Emily Infeld), June 2017, photo by PhotoRun.net
Molly Huddle is a fighter. She may be perfectly built for the marathon. I watched her run 10,000 meters against Sally Kipyego at the Payton Jordan, and then, her amazing AR in Rio de Janiero, where she finished sixth in 30:13.17, in the race where Almaz Ayana ran 29:17.45. Oh, Molly broke Shalane Flanagan’s AR for 2008, which was run in Beijing, where Shalane ran 30:22.22, taking silver.
Huddle is coached by Ray Treacy, brother of Olympic marathon bronze medalist John Treacy. Ray Treacy has been the coach for Molly Huddle for more than a decade. Ray Treacy is the head coach at Providence College. He is admired and respected by his athletes. Ray Treacy is old school. In distance running, Ray once told me, one must build over time and take the time to excel. Molly Huddle is a perfect example.
In her first marathon, done after her AR over 10,000 meters in Rio, in November 2016, Molly Huddle took third in NYC Marathon in 2:28:13. It was a good first marathon for Molly and it was a test. Ray Treacy wanted her to do the first marathon with little pressure, so her training time was not, well the voluminous, well considered build up that is a Ray Treacy trademark. His gentle approach keeps injuries down and his test with Molly was not in the normal mode.
Molly Huddle did well. Nearly right after the race, Molly Huddle told @runblogrun, when we asked if she would give up the track, that while she would consider running 10,000 meters for a while longer, her future was in the marathon. Coach Ray Treacy told @runblogrun that the first marathon was done with about half the preparation he would want, but it worked for Molly Huddle.
Take a few minutes and watch Molly Huddle race on You Tube.
Her performances in the United NYC Half marathon over two of the past three years (2016 and 2017), where she won in the final steps in 2016 in 68:41. In March 2017, Molly again won the United NYC Half Marathon in 68:19, ahead of Emily Sisson. Both years, during outdoor track season, Molly, as is her custom, ran the 10,000m and 5,000m at the USATF champs. She won both in 2016, and won 10,000m in 2017, taking bronze in the 5,000m at the tape.
Molly Huddle sets AR for 5000m, BAA 5k, April 2015, photo by PhotoRun.net
Molly Huddle comes off as pretty laid back, but, like her competitors, she wants to win her whole heart and soul. A wicked sense of humor, Molly keeps her comments lite and pithy. I recall sharing a taxi with Molly and her agent, Ray Flynn, after her second AR for 5000 meters in July 2014. Molly was happy with her race, and pretty relaxed. She watches you like a hawk, and when she zings, you go , “Wow”, never ever forgot that you are with a highly competitive athlete with keen observation skills. Truth is, Molly Huddle competes in everything she does.
Word is that Coach Ray Treacy has Molly Huddle in great shape for the 2018 BAA Boston Marathon. Great shape? What does that mean? Well, sub 2:20 shape. But, how will she run in Boston?
Well, one guesses that Ray Treacy will suggest that Molly Huddle stay ensconced in the pack until the very last moment. Huddles speed is excellent, and in one of her most recent races, in Houston in January 2018 was huge, where she ran 67:26, breaking the iconic AR of Deena Kastor (Molly ran pbs for 10k, 15k, 10 miles, 20k and half marathon all in one race).
In her final race prior to the Boston Marathon, the Gate River 15k, Molly Huddle won. Molly Huddle won by 50 seconds over Jordan Hasay, in 47:50.
How will Molly Huddle do at Boston? This has been her focus for nearly two years, and her training since last winter has been, well, near perfect. For a person focused on Boston, and a person who is built to run marathons, this may be her day. Why do I say, built to run marathons? Molly Huddle has this amazingly lite and efficient stride, her feet touch down lightly. She handles the mileage, and she can focus on this kind of training.
The field, with Molly Huddle, Shalane Flanagan, Desi Linden and Jordan Hasay shows that no one can really pick this one. One thing is for sure, Molly Huddle can run fast, very fast, and can handle a fast pace from the start or a blazing finish.
Let’s wait for the next week plus to see how Molly Huddle, an athlete with a perfect stride for the marathon, and the speed worthy of the two ARs at 5,000 meters and current ARs at 10,000m and half marathon with her name by afore-mentioned records.
She is ready to roll. Huddle should have confidence in her training and her recent racing.
How does one describe the racing style of Molly Huddle? In the 10,000 meters, perhaps her perfect distance, Molly Huddle wears the competition down, lap after lap. Afte 24 laps, where one’s body is begging for a donut, and a nap, Molly Huddle is right there, with the ability to run that last lap, and take the competition on,, down to the final steps. She won 5000 meters in final three steps in 2014. Huddle knows how to stay focused.
Her only mistep came 2015, where she lost the bronze medal in final five steps in Beijing to Emily Infeld is a gentle reminder that the sport she has chosen means that one must not put their guard down until AFTER the finish line.
That will be the case in Boston. Tired after 26 miles of running, it could come down to the final 385 yards, and after driving for the final six miles, if Molly Huddle is there, and she should be, the battle will come down to the very last centimeters. Molly Huddle will not give up.
April 16, 2018 will feature a fine women’s field in the Boston Marathon. John Hancock picked an amazing field. The race will be fantastic, and in 2018, while the men’s race will be excellent, with many of the top American males, the real news is how fit and fast this women’s field is, who will be stepping up in Hopkinton, waiting for the race to start.
Molly Huddle will be ready.
For more on Molly Huddle, here’s a Nov 2016 interview after her NYC Marathon third place: https://www.runblogrun.com/2016/11/interview-with-molly-huddle-third-place-finisher-first-american-woman-nyc-marathon.html
