#RunMollyRun...

"Many thanks to everyone from New York and especially my home town of Elmira for the encouragement and support over the last few weeks. I hope to represent you well in London!"  -Molly Huddle*

I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to one of the reasons I am so obsessed with #London2012: Molly Huddle. Molly is a distinguished and accomplished distance runner who hails from Elmira, NY; she also just happened to qualify for the US Olympic Team in the 5000m. No biggie, right? WRONG. This is HUGE. So huge that our Chamber of Commerce launched a campaign with the logo shown above; banners, t-shirts, posters, event viewing parties, more tweets and FB status updates devoted to her and 'Run, Molly, Run!' than one can count! Our entire populous, including anyone who has ever lived here, is rooting for 'our' girl. It is FANTASTIC!

Eugene, OR - Molly with teammates Kim Conley and Julie Culley immediately

following their 5000m qualification for the US Olympic Team. 06/28/12

Of course I speak in jest when I say she 'just happened' to make the Olympic team; Molly's achievements are legendary. Her climb to the Olympics began early: starting in high school where she competed as a one-person cross-country team, going undefeated during the regular season, and setting a national high school record in the two-mile run with a time of 10:01. She followed this by becoming a nine-time All-American in Track & Field, tying the late Ryan Shay's school record, at the University of Notre Dame. In addition, Molly currently holds the title of fastest American woman of all time in the 5000m at 14:44.76, set in 2010 at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels. To add to that, she won the 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship 5000m with a time of 15:10.01, and was leading with 100 meters to go at the 2012 US Olympic Trials before ultimately being passed down the stretch by Julie Culley; both earned Olympic team berths at 15:13.77 and 15:14.40 respectively. These are just the highlights people; read her full Olympic bio here. AMAZING!

London, UK - Julie, Molly and Kim all decked out for Opening Ceremony

Parade of Nations. 07/27/12 - Personal Photo

Just in case we aren't all properly impressed yet, some facts about this 12.5 lap race: the Women’s 5000m is a fairly new Olympic event making its debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. The current World Record is 14:11.15 held by Ethiopian, Tirunesh Dibaba, earned in 2008 in Oslo; the Olympic Record is 14:40.79 held by Romanian, Gabriela Szabo, earned in 2000 in Sydney and the US Record is 14:44.76 held by our very own, earned in 2010 in Brussels. Interestingly, no US woman has ever medaled in the event or finished in the top eight. Molly put an authoritative foot forward in the semi-final Tuesday when she went right to the front and ran among the top two or three over the entire distance of the race, ultimately finishing eighth overall and securing her spot in the final Friday. GO MOLLY!

London, UK - Molly setting the pace in the semi-final to ensure her

advance to the 5000m final Friday. 08/07/12 - Kirby Lee / USA Today

You read her quote at the start of this post, you've seen the pictures; Molly is a delightful, dedicated, talented and grounded young woman on the precipice of extraordinary achievement. Friday at 8:05pm London Time, she will run the race of her life thus far; please join me in cheering Molly on -- medal or not, she is one exceptional young woman who has made her hometown impossibly proud... RUN, MOLLY, RUN!



*Quote Source: http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1147716--meet-the-olympian-molly-huddle metro.us