Huddle finishes on a high note

It was a discouraging summer for distance runner Molly Huddle. The 24-year-old from Elmira, N.Y., said she had a crummy spring on the track, a crummy Olympic Trials, and a bad time in Europe.

"I was just really off," she said.

Yesterday, Huddle snatched a bright ending for her road racing season, beating Ethiopian Aziza Aliyu in a furious sprint down Charles Street in the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. Huddle got to the finish line in 32 minutes 51.2 seconds, half a second ahead of Aliyu, to win the race, which counted as the USA National 10K championship as well. It was the 14th time in 15 years the Tufts 10K has been selected as the US 10K championship.

Two weeks ago, Huddle finished fourth in the USA 8K championships in Akron, Ohio, and she was third at the 5K championships in Providence Sept. 21, so she has wrapped up her season with a flourish.

Teyba Naser, also from Ethiopia, claimed third place in 32:54.9, and two-time Olympian Amy Rudolph of Providence was fourth in 33:04.2, earning second place in the national championship.

A 2006 Notre Dame graduate, Huddle now lives and trains in Providence, where one of her training partners is Rudolph, who led for most of the first half of yesterday's race. After running the first mile with a pack of at least 20 runners, Rudolph moved in front and began to push the pace as the leaders took the hairpin turnaround at the BU Bridge.

"I felt good," said Rudolph, 30. "I tried to open the race up at 2 1/2 miles. When we came back around, I thought, 'Oh, maybe that was a mistake, I didn't realize there was such a headwind.' But maybe it played in my favor - it still opened the race up."

Rudolph stretched her lead to 15 yards by Mile 3, which she reached in 15:45. There were still six in the chase pack. Over the next mile, Huddle, Aliyu, and Naser caught up to Rudolph, while Renee Metivier-Baillie and Rebecca Donoghue fell off.

The final four clung together, running in a diamond configuration as they crossed the Harvard Bridge and then turned left to tackle the last mile on Commonwealth Ave. The bunch was just beginning to come apart when they made the final turn, a left onto Charles Street where it runs between the Public Garden and Boston Common. The finish line was now visible, tempting.

Huddle picked the right time to push for the finish. Aliyu started sprinting too soon.

"She made a mistake," said Aliyu's husband, Retta Feyissa, who translated for her.

Aliyu said she started sprinting after she turned the corner, thinking the finish line was closer than it was. She stepped in front of Huddle, but the road continued to stretch out in front of her. With only yards left, Huddle pushed, churning ahead of Aliyu to hit the tape first.

Huddle said she was concerned about Aliyu's ability to outkick her, "especially when she pulled ahead."

"I was thinking, 'Try not to go all out until you see the line,' " Huddle said. "I was careful to stay with them and let them push it. It's come down to situations like that before for me, and I've learned from losing."

Aliyu acknowledged she was too quick with her kick.

"I started from far away," Aliyu said. "That's why she beat me."

The Tufts 10K was the last race in the 2008 women's USA Running Circuit, which was won by 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and US Trials champion Deena Kastor with 45 points. Katie McGregor was second with 36 points and Huddle moved up to third with 32 points.

Patty Murray of Boulder, Colo., 43, won the masters division of yesterday's race in 35:46, followed by 51-year-old Joan Benoit Samuelson in 36:16. Laurie Stephens, a 24-year-old from Wenham, took the wheelchair title in 31:02.