huddle_vs_flanagan wrote:
One of them will likely win.
Molly Huddle is said to be capable of 2:20 on a flat course and ran a 1:07 half to destroy Hasay in January. Shalane says she's in even better shape than before New York and certainly does not lack an impressive kick, given her 8:43 3000m indoor in January. Who do you guys think will win?
After setting more than two dozen American track records in a successful decade that sent her to two Olympic Games, Molly Huddle will make the transition to the marathon in Monday’s 122nd Boston.
“The preparation has gone pretty well. I haven’t missed any time,” said Huddle, a Providence resident. “I was lucky to get out on the course twice in December but that seems like a long time ago. It was good to see the hills, though. Obviously, I like to run a faster one than in the first one (New York 2016) but it’s not record-eligible because of the point-to-point. So, I just want to run a fast one and maybe finish in the top three. That would be nice and then we can incorporate what we learned from this into the next one.
“I tried to work on the hills out in Flagstaff (Ariz.). I would say I’m probably an average hill runner but in Boston it’s more of where the hills hit you. Hopefully, I’m a little stronger now. I’m just going to control what I can control. There are a lot of good runners. The weather is always a factor at Boston, so you never know. I just wish the race would arrive.”
The 33-year-old Elmira, N.Y., native competed as a one-person cross-country team in high school with her father as coach. Huddle went undefeated, winning conference, regional and state titles and finished fourth in the 2001 FootLocker National Cross Country Championships. The college recruiters came calling and Huddle chose Notre Dame, becoming a 10-time All-American and setting the school outdoor 5,000-meter mark with a 15:32 in 2004.
After graduation, Huddle relocated to Providence to draw on the well-established talents of Friars coach Ray Treacy. The association resulted in Huddle rewriting the American record book in track and road racing, winning 25 national titles and making those Olympic teams. She finished 11th in the 5,000 meters at the 2012 London Games. At the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, she broke the American record for 10,000 meters set by Marblehead’s Shalane Flanagan in 2008 with a 30:13:17 clocking.