Andrew Legare

alegare@stargazette.com | @SGAndrewLegare

Elmira native Molly Huddle broke her own American women’s record in the 5,000-meter run Friday at an IAAF Diamond League meet in Monaco.

Huddle, 29, finished sixth in 14 minutes, 42.64 seconds at the Stade Louis II to shatter the record of 14:44.76 she set at a Diamond League meet in Brussels, Belgium, on Aug. 27, 2010.

“I am happy I was able to chip away at the record and take advantage of the famously fast Monaco track,” she wrote in a text message.

“I feel really fortunate and well-coached to have hit many of my race goals this year. It has been a great year of (personal records) so far, which I savor as I know they get harder to come by the older I get.”

The race started just before 9 p.m. Monaco time (3 p.m. Eastern time).

“Naturally I’m pleased and I’m proud of her,” her father, Bob Huddle, said after following the race online from Elmira. “Before she left I talked to her and said 14:39 to 14:41. This is really good and I think it’s a good, honest indication of her performance level.

“I think to break your own record is pretty amazing.”

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia won Friday’s race in 14:28.88, the top time in the world this year. Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia was second in 14:29.19 and was followed by Kenyans Viola Jelagat Kibiwot (14:33.73), Sally Kipyego (14:37.18) and Betsy Saina (14:39.49).

“Fortunately for me it was the the perfect race for me,” Huddle said in an interview with flotrack.org. “I just tried to get into a comfortable spot and pay attention to my splits. I knew it would be a gut check with five laps to go and then again with two laps to go and then again with one lap to go. I just pushed until I went past it.”

American Shannon Rowbury finished eighth in a personal-best 14:48.68. Huddle looked back a few times at Rowbury during the middle of the race.

“I was trying to see where Shannon was. I knew she was going for the record as well,” Huddle told flotrack.org.

Before Huddle broke the American record in 2010, Shalane Flanagan held it with a time of 14:44.80 from 2007.

Huddle has had a very strong 2014 that included a victory in the women’s 5,000 at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Sacramento State University in California on June 27.

She broke Mary Decker’s 30-year-old American record in winning the Oakley New York Mini 10K on June 14 at New York’s Central Park.

Huddle finished second in the 10,000 at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University on May 4, won the Boston Athletic Association 5K on April 19, and placed third in the New York City Half Marathon on March 16.

Last November she set a world record in the 12-kilometer run at the U.S. National Road Racing Championships in Alexandria, Va.

Huddle finished 11th in the 5K at the 2012 London Olympics and last year her sixth-place finish in the event at the IAAF World Championships was the best ever for an American woman. Bob Huddle said Friday’s effort against a world-class field was in line with that finish.

Huddle is a 2002 graduate of Elmira Notre Dame High School who earned All-American honors 10 times at the University of Notre Dame. She now lives in Providence, R.I.