2016 Olympic Games

Ray Treacy Thinks Molly Huddle Hasn't Run Her Best 10K Yet

Ray Treacy Thinks Molly Huddle Hasn't Run Her Best 10K Yet

The town of Elmira, New York, is celebrating Molly Huddle Day today, and they have good reason to.Huddle, 31, will race the 10,000m tomorrow at the 2016 Oly

Aug 11, 2016 by Meg Bellino
Ray Treacy Thinks Molly Huddle Hasn't Run Her Best 10K Yet
The town of Elmira, New York, is celebrating Molly Huddle Day today, and they have good reason to.

Huddle, 31, will race the 10,000m tomorrow at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. And after her historic performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Huddle could leave Rio as one of the best American distance runners of all time.

After leading every step of the way, Huddle won the Trials 10,000m on July 2 with a 68-second last lap to beat runner-up Emily Infeld by nearly five seconds. She followed that up with a victory in the 5000m on July 10 in 15:05. No American woman has ever won both events at the Olympic Trials--until Huddle, that is.

But her dominance didn't just start this spring. It's been years in the making with Ray Treacy, who has coached the men's and women's programs at Providence College in Rhode Island for more than three decades. Huddle joined his small professional training group when she graduated from Notre Dame in 2007.

Now, nine years later, Huddle is on the verge of advancing her legacy with an Olympic medal.

"That kind of confidence in what we do on a daily basis has just gotten stronger as the years go by, and as she keeps getting better and more successful," Treacy said. "It becomes a lot easier in terms of not questioning, just doing, and knowing that she's going to perform at the level that she's been performing at--that's important. You have to have confidence in your coach. I do the thinking, you do the running."

And after Huddle's whirlwind 2015 season, Treacy is thinking about an Olympic medal. All Huddle has to do is the running.

Building a foundation for greatness


Huddle won her first U.S. title on the track in 2011, and made her first Olympic team in 2012. She was the top American (sixth) in the 5000m at the 2013 World Championships, and finished fourth, behind Infeld, in the 10,000m at last summer's World Championships. The controversial finish ended with Infeld leaning at the line to beat Huddle, who had let down her guard in the final few meters, by .09.

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Photo by David Gray/Reuters


"We spoke for hours on end when she came back, because it was a rough time for her," Treacy said. "But you know, my plan was for her to get it in perspective; that doesn't define her. My goal straight away was to get her back out there and try and put it into the far reaches of her mind. The only way she was going to do that was by racing."

And race she did. Huddle won five straight U.S. titles on the roads last fall between September and November. She obliterated the fields in each race, sometimes winning by more than a minute in the longer distances.

"She's handled it very, very well," Treacy said. "She's at a different level this year. She's gotten better every year, but she's even better this year."

In addition to Huddle, Treacy's training group also includes Kim Smith, who graduated from Providence in 2005 and has continued to train with Treacy ever since. She previously held the NCAA record for the indoor 5000m until 2015 Providence graduate and two-time NCAA 5000m champion Emily Sisson ran 15:12.22 last February at the BIG EAST Championships. Sisson joined their small, but mighty, training group upon graduation.

"Molly and Kim were so successful, so I figured, 'They must be doing something right,'" Sisson said over the phone. "She's been treating me like a teammate from the day I left the NCAA and joined the group. She's been so helpful in this transition year."

Sisson said they train hard on their workout days, but take their easy run days "really easy." Was she surprised by Huddle's performance at the Olympic Trials? Not at all.

"She obviously works really, really hard and trains hard, but she's so humble and so down to earth the rest of the time. It's so refreshing to see that side of her, too."

One of the deepest Olympic fields ever


The field of women that will gather on the 10K start line in Rio features two-time Olympic 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba and 24-year-old Almaz Ayana, who ran the eighth-fastest 10,000m mark of all time in her debut: a chill 30:07.

Huddle's best is 30:47, and Shalane Flanagan--who will race the marathon and not the 10K in Rio--owns the American record of 30:22. But all signs indicate Huddle's best is yet to come.

Watch Huddle run her 30:47 10,000m PB at the 2014 Payton Jordan Invitational


In 2014, Huddle lowered her own 5000m American record to 14:42.64. This year, she came within six seconds of that time at the Prefontaine Classic--all while feeling "sluggish."

"That wasn't the right time to run a race," Treacy said of her 11th-place/top American finish. "She was up at altitude and she came down the night before--we've never done that before. She ran 14:48 running something like 2:22 for the last 800m. She usually finishes around 2:12, so it's really unusual for her to finish that slow. But it just showed that she was probably on American record pace with two laps to go. She was just grinding the whole race."

So although we haven't seen the best of Huddle yet in the 10K, we might tomorrow.

Staying in the hunt for a medal


Huddle came down from another altitude stint a few weeks before the Trials in July, but Treacy still thought she didn't "look her best" until the 5000m race in Eugene.

That's why Huddle could win a medal in Rio. Backed by elite training and Treacy's confidence, Huddle will pit her talents against Ethiopian and Kenyan teams that are much more stacked than they were at last year's World Championships.

"I think the race will be fast. I certainly believe Molly is in 30:30 shape, or 30:20 shape, but that might only be good enough for seventh. All we know is that's where we feel she is at. If she's there with 2K to go, then she has a chance. That's where she needs to keep herself close enough to win a medal."

Treacy isn't going to Rio. Instead, he'll be watching the race online--alone.

"I'll be in a little hole someplace on my own with nobody around me," he said, laughing.

"That's what I would expect!" Sisson said about her coach's remarks. "He's going to be so nervous. He was really relaxed at this Olympic Trials because Molly is in incredible shape."

Unlike her coach, Sisson will be watching Huddle's race with a group of friends on Friday in Providence. She knows Huddle is in "phenomenal" shape, and would love to see an Olympic medal for her training partner and friend.

"She's in phenomenal shape. I know I obviously have a bias, but she's such a great person. I just want to see her have success."