01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 15, 2005

PROVIDENCE -- Amy Rudolph, who's used to finishing in first place, is at a very good place in her life.

The 1994 NCAA 1,500-meter champion while at Providence College, and two-time U.S. Olympian, is engaged to be married in October, she's reunited with her old coach, and she recently won the 10,000 meters at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University with the second-fastest time ever run by an American woman, and the fastest time in the world at the distance this year.

"I'm in a good place, a happy place," said Rudolph, sounding as joyous, as enthusiastic, as a kid at Christmas, even though she'll be 32 in September.

And why shouldn't she sound youthful?

After all, she has had, as Friars coach Ray Treacy said: "a rebirth in running."

"Amy is running," said Treacy, "better than she ever has in her life, no doubt about it."

There is no doubt in Rudolph's mind what has brought about her resurgence as a world-class runner.

"I went back to Ray," she said.

Despite her success under Treacy at PC, Rudolph decided to look for help elsewhere after graduating in 1995.

"I did really well at PC," she said, "but I thought maybe I should try something different in order to get to the next level. I probably shouldn't have changed what wasn't broken."

Rudolph broke away from Treacy to train with Jimmy Harvey from about 1998 until two years ago.

"Things weren't going all that well," said Rudolph, who knew that Treacy had an outstanding group of distance runners at PC.

"I asked him if he'd mind coaching me again," Rudolph said. "I told him I'd understand if he didn't think I'd mesh with the other girls. But he said he thought it would be great for all of us."

"I was delighted to have her back," Treacy said.

Rudolph is delighted to once again be under Treacy's tutelage.

"I put my complete trust in Ray," she said. "Whatever he says, goes. He knows athletes -- knows what works for them, and what doesn't. He takes the time to get to know you, to find out what you want to do, what your goals are, then maps a course to get there."

The long-range goal for Rudolph is to get to one more Olympics -- in 2008 in Beijing. Short-term, she's looking at the World Championships in August in Helsinki, Finland, where she plans on running the 5,000 meters.

That's the event in which she finished 10th at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, and in which she also competed in Sydney in 2000.

"It's her best event," said Treacy, "because she has great strength, and has 1,500-meter speed, as well."

It was that combination that enabled her to win the 10,000 at Stanford in a dazzling time of 31:18.96.

"I knew she was very fit," said Treacy, "but that was her first-ever 10,000. I was a little wary because of her inexperience at that distance."

Rudolph, on the other hand, was a little giddy at running her first 10K race.

"I was laughing on the starting line," she said, "wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

"I went in completely open-minded, with no expectations. I just wanted to get to 5K, then take every 1,000 after that as it happened. I felt really, really good. With 2,000 meters to go, I felt I had some life in my legs, so I thought: 'Let's roll. Let's get up on your toes and see what happens.' "

What happened was that Rudolph pulled away to win, finishing ahead of her training partner, PC senior Kim Smith, who is New Zealand's top female distance runner.

"Kim is somebody I admire and respect," Rudolph said. "Training with her has been great for me. She pushes me."

"Amy's a great competitor," Treacy said. "Even when she wasn't training all that well, she'd always race well."

Rudolph runs twice a day, four or five days a week, usually putting in four miles in one session, seven or eight in the other. On days she runs only once, she'll cover 8 to 13 miles.

"I'm really having fun," she said. "Enjoying it is half the battle. You need to be loving it when you go out the door every day, because you know it's going to hurt.

"As I've gotten older, I've learned to listen to my body. I go by feel. I know what works for me, and what doesn't. There are days I feel I can run forever and take on the world, and days I don't feel like a runner at all."

Those days are few and far between these days.

"I'm still a little shocked that I actually won the race at Stanford," she said. "And I'm really, really happy with the time that I ran. But I'm going to stick with the 5K for Helsinki. For me, this summer is about running a personal best-ever 5K and getting to the World Championships."

That'll be the place to look for Rudolph come August.