The two-time Olympian set a U.S. record of 1 hour, 7 minutes, 25 seconds in the Houston Half Marathon.
Molly Huddle broke the American record for the half marathon on Sunday, running a time of 1:07:25. Huddle, 33, previously ran 1:07:41 in 2016, the second-fastest mark in U.S. history, behind Deena Kastor, whose 1:07:34 had stood as the standard for American women since 2006.
But even in setting a U.S. record, Huddle’s effort fell short of the elite field of Ethiopian and Kenyan runners at the 2018 Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Huddle’s time earned her seventh place, while Ruti Aga of Ethiopia won the race in 01:06:39.
Huddle’s splits on her 13.1-mile American record unofficially broke the U.S. records for 10 miles and 20 km — 50:52 and 1:03:48, respectively.
Huddle’s sponsor, Saucony (she ran the race in the Fastwitch), said her finish put her “right on track for Boston,” where she will compete in the Boston Marathon on April 16.
The last American woman to win the Boston Marathon was Lisa Larsen Weidenbach (now Rainsberger) in 1985.
“Leading into today’s race we focused on a soft marathon build-up, but now it’s time to begin the real grind for Boston,” Huddle said. “Today tested my limits; I was lucky to have a lot of really fast women to run with, and breaking the record gives me a lot of confidence in my fitness level.”
