Projo Running Blog

Charlie Mahler of Running USA wire gave this account of Rudolph's victory:

"Rained out on Thursday night when severe thunderstorms rocked the area, the fields finally took to the track at the end of the session Friday, culminating a distance running carnival of championship proportions. Temperatures dropped from the high- to mid-70s during the evening, with dew points in the high 50s.

Women's champ Rudolph had to wait a long time to win her first USA track title - that extra day and the better part of a professional career. But, in her first attempt at 10,000 meters at a USA Championship, the Providence grad out-kicked Sara Slattery to win in 32:25.56.

Slattery clocked 32:29.97, while the surprising Samia Akbar was third in 32:41.84.

Rudolph and Slattery sat on defending champ Katie McGregor for 22 laps before taking hold of the race themselves. The Team USA Minnesota athlete took the leaders thru the mile in 5:02 and 5000 in 16:08, but lost a little bit of tempo each lap. Slattery, another former Colorado star, finally shocked the pace that had lagged to over 80 seconds a lap with 71 second circuits in an attempt to run away from Rudolph. The veteran Rudolph, 32, stuck until the final turn and then pulled away in the sprint for home.

"My plan was to take it at three laps to go and run 70, 70, 70 or whatever it took to win," runner-up Slattery explained. "Amy was strong at the end. It probably wasn't the best race situation for Katie [McGregor] either. I feel like a bad sport in some ways, that she had to lead that way, because I've had to do that before and it's not fun."

The rejuvenated Rudolph, a two-time Olympian, knew the wait-see plan was part of the game.

"I really wanted to win tonight so I waited as long as possible. When Sara went, she went hard and it was a hard last three laps, and never did I think I'd win until I crossed the line."

"It took me eleven years," Rudolph remembered, "but I finally won an outdoor title and I'm really excited. It's a whole different ballgame [the 10,000], but I'm loving it so far, learning a lot, I'm adapting to the training really well, so I'm excited about the next couple years."