Huddle talks about her best performances of 2014 and what she’s looking to do in the months ahead.
The last time an American woman beat Molly Huddle? You’d have to go thumbing through the calendar several months for that, past the most recent 15 races Huddle has been in, back to August of 2013, when Jenny Simpson bested her at a 5,000m in Zurich.
The highlight of Huddle’s 2014 came in July at the Diamond League meet in Monaco, where she ran 14:42.64 in the 5,000m, bettering her own American record of 14:44.76, which she set in 2010.
But Huddle’s dominance has extended from March through October, at distances from 5K to the half marathon. In May, her 10,000m at Payton Jordan was the second-fastest American time ever (30:47). In June, she defeated a world-class field at the New York Mini Marathon, a road 10K, which she won in 31:37. A few weeks later, she outdueled Shannon Rowbury at the U.S. track and field championships in Sacramento to win her second national 5,000m title.
Huddle, 30, spoke with Running Times in September about her favorite performance of the year; her coach, Ray Treacy; and her plans for the world championships in 2015 and the Olympics the year after.
Running Times: When you look back at your races this summer, what’s the one you’re proudest of?
Molly Huddle: The PR in the 5K, being an American record, was one of those things where everything had to line up perfectly. So I feel lucky that I was able to get that in July. There were a few I didn’t expect to win—the Mini was pretty surprising to me to win in New York, so that was a good one. The B.A.A. 5K [in April] was kind of a surprise as well. I’d say June started a pretty good streak for me as far as USAs and the record and the Mini.
RT: You ran your debut half marathon back in March in New York [in 1:09:03]. You don’t count that among your top performances of the year?
Read the rest here.
Athletics Illustrated interview with Huddle, here.
