by Larry Eder
Molly Huddle, Rio Olympic 10,000m, photo by PhotoRun.net
What was so spectacular about Molly Huddle’s race was her ability to pull herself back from the precipice. At 4000m, Molly Huddle was near AR pace for her own 5000 meter record! She slowed the pace down, hitting the 5000m in 14:55, nine seconds behind Alice Nawowuma and Almaz Ayana. When Ayana took off after 5,000 meters, Molly Huddle was twenty meters off the seventh placer, but moved past two in the final 4000 meters. Molly Huddle was rewarded with a 30:13.72 for the 10,000m, a new American record!
Now owning the 5000m and 10,000m American records, Molly Huddle caps off a fine summer of racing where she won both the 10,000m and 5,000m at the U.S. Olympic Trials. We look forward to her debut over the marathon in the TCS New York City Marathon!
Molly Huddle sets AR of 30:13.17!
Running truly the race of her life, Molly Huddle took sixth in the finest 10,000 women’s field in Olympic history! With Alice Nawowuna leading through 5k in 14:46.81, just four seconds off AR of Molly at 5000 meters, Huddle showed some race savvy and slowed it down. She passed Geleta Burka, ETh for seventh about 7k and went of to pass Yasemin Can, Turkey (via Kenya) for sixth place. For Molly Huddle, this gives her the 5000m AR and 10,000m AR, making her one of the finest long distance runners in American history. Huddle will be training soon for her debut over the marathon at the TCS NYC Marathon, but for today, she can smile and know she ran the race of her life, in the greatest 10,000m race in women’s history!
The race was fast from the start, as Alice Nawowuna lead through 1k to 4k, on a sub 30 minute 10,000m pace. Molly Huddle, at 4000m, was just off her AR record pace for 5,000 meters. Huddle let about twenty meters get between her and Gelete Burka of Ethiopia.
Almaz Ayana took off just after the 5000 meter point, hit in 14:46. That pace was not difficult for her, but it put her followers in some distress. Ayana ran the last 5000m in 14:30, a time many can not come near at that very distance.
Molly Huddle showed poise and focus. By staying out of the melee, she kept her race on target, a fast time, and perhaps a high finish as others faltered. Moving from eighth to sixth was tough in the 10,000m, as PBs were set by 17 of 35 in the field!
Molly Huddle is coached by Ray Treacy in Providence, Rhode Island. Ray is old school. Take your time and build up, do the speed work and build your strength. He has coached Molly Huddle with a long term approach. Her success over 5000m, 10,000m, the half marathon and and upcoming debut marathon attest to Ray Treacy’s knowledge of the distances and his respect from his athletes.
Molly Huddle ran just about what I hoped she would, around 30:15. Her 30:13.72 was a tremendous effort and finest ever by an American. My good friend, Gary Goettlemann used to explain it to me like this: ‘distance runners have to know how close they can push it to the red line.’ Well, Molly Huddle pushed it to the limit today and then some. Her AR of 30:13.72 also shows, with some good ten weeks of training in front of her, a very fine marathon debut in the month of November at the TCS NYC Marathon!
Molly Huddle, AR, 30:13.72, photo by PhotoRun.net
