byLarry EderMolly Huddle is one of the finest distance runners of her generation. She is tough, meticulous and focused. I have watched her race from the mile to the marathon. What she has done with her coach, Ray Treacy, is fascinating to watch. How will she do in Boston? It will be exciting to see, with Shalane Flanagan, Desi Lindan and Jordan Hasay battling Molly in Boston in April 2018.
Each runner is so different and so fascinating.
Molly Huddle has a near perfect stride and gait. She is the female version of Garry Bjorklund, (check him out on You Tube). Garry had a near perfect stride.
I always knew Molly Huddle was tough. That ability to push oneself within an inch of faltering for 25 or 12.5 laps is an acquired talent. In 2014, in Sacramento, I recall Shannon Rowbury taking the lead with less than 100 meters to go, and one wondered if Molly Huddle could over take her. Somehow, somewhere inside Molly Huddle, she choose to win that race and battled back to take the title in the very last meters, to win the 5000m title. I knew Molly was tough, but then, I knew Molly Huddle was fierce.
Molly Huddle and Shannon Rowbury, photo by PhotoRun.net
In Boston this coming spring, we may should see a race for the ages. The way these fine athletes show respect for each other, and respect for our sport, is by giving the race all that they can. What will be left from the supreme effort? Vapor?
In the story, Concentrate on the Chrysanthemums, Kenny Moore, long time senior editor for Sports Illustrated, wrote about racing the Fukuoka Marathon in 1971. While he was there, he caught a fever, and had this amazing dream:
“In a dream I found myself at the start of the Olympic 5,000-meter final. I had trained in secret for years, preparing for this single race. I tore through the first mile in four minutes even, pulling to a huge lead. In the second mile, despite the pain, I surged harder, responding to the astounded, howling crowd, and ran it in 3:58. Over the last few laps, when I should have dropped, I began to sprint, lapping the earth’s best runners, lowering the three-mile world record by a minute. In the stretch, amid the torture of the effort and the screams of the multitude, I delivered the limit of my energy and all my body’s chemical bonds burst. Only a wisp of vapor crossed the finish line, leaving my nylon shirt folded across the tape.
When I awoke, my fever was gone.”
Women’s running has come of age. American women’s distance running is in a special era. With the likes of Shalane Flanagan, Jordan Hasay, Molly Huddle and Des Liden, Boston 2018 should be an amazing race. These women are role models for all. They are trying to find their limits, and they love what the do!
Molly Huddle will run a fantastic race in Boston. The challenge is for us to wait those three plus months.
