Molly Huddle's theme at Monday's Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women in Boston was simple: grind. The 31-year-old had Shalane Flanagan's 31:03 national road record on her mind, something she wanted to eclipse on home soil in New England. Although she up short, Huddle's winning time of 31:21 was a course record, USATF road championships record, and road personal best. It was her fourth win at the event, and her fourth national road title since Labor Day.

"I was just grinding the whole way so that I wouldn't slow down," said Huddle. "I have a certain goal for every race, and today it was trying to run fast."

From the gun, Huddle and Emily Sisson went to the front, passing the mile in 5:00 with Ethiopia's Sentayehu Ejigu a step behind. Crossing the Massachusetts Avenue bridge with Boston's skyline off her shoulder, Huddle continued to hammer. She was alone seven minutes into the race, well out in front.

Huddle had hoped someone would go with her and keep the pace fast. Huddle and Sisson—who train under coach Ray Treacy in Providence, Rhode Island—had planned to start off at 5:00 per mile pace and see how long they could hold it. Yet Huddle was the only one who could keep that tempo, reaching two miles in alone in 9:58.

"It was just challenging. That's pretty fast to do by yourself, so I thought I'd give it a go and see what'd happen," she said. "I just looked down and tried to grind as long as I could. [Flanagan's record] was on my mind, and I knew it would be a really tall order unless there was someone with me. But I thought, 'Maybe you'll feel good and maybe you'll be able to do it.'"    

Through 5K in 15:37, Huddle kept her eyes stayed glued on the asphalt ahead; they would only lift when she tapped her watch each mile. By four miles, Huddle's lead on Sisson was 19 seconds.

Taking the inbound turn back onto the Massachusetts Avenue bridge, Huddle hit a wall of sound. Women still making their way through the second mile screamed encouragement, cheering as loud as the famed women of Wellesley College during the Boston Marathon.

Despite the extra encouragement, Huddle couldn't quite get back on national record pace. Whether it was due to the lack of competition or the lingering fatigue from winning last week's 10-mile national championship, Huddle said, she didn't have the extra gear needed to eclipse Flanagan's mark.

Nonetheless, she won by almost a minute, and her 31:21 broke Ejigu's event record by 12 seconds.

"I'm just happy to win and get a road PR, so that's nothing to be disappointed about," said Huddle, who joins Lynn Jennings as the only athletes to have won this race at least four times (Jennings has six titles). Huddle earned $12,050 for her win.

"I think that just means I've run for a lot of years now, which means that I'm getting a little further along in my career,” Huddle said about winning her 19th national title. “But if you told me that 10 years ago that's where I'd be now, I wouldn't believe you. It's pretty special."

Sisson celebrated her 24th birthday with a runner-up finish in 32:18. Sisson, who won the NCAA 5,000 title in June, has quickly made the transition from collegian to professional, training alongside Huddle a majority of the time.

"I was happy to finish second to Molly. That was the goal going into today," she said. "I just know I am going the right path following [Huddle and coach Treacy], so it's really comfortable. The transition has been so smooth.”

Rounding out the top five were Ejigu (32:37), 2012 Olympian Kim Conley (32:30), and Brianne Nelson (32:48).