Marla Lee Runyan (married name Lonergan; born January 4, 1969) is an American track and field athlete, road runner and

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

runner who is legally

blind Blind may refer to: * The state of blindness, being unable to see * A window blind, a covering for a window Blind may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Blind'' (2007 film), a Dutch drama by Tamar van den Dop * ''Blind' ...

. She is a three-time national champion in the women's

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

Early life and education

Runyan was born in Santa Maria, California. After graduating from

Camarillo High School Adolfo Camarillo High School (ACHS) is a public high school in Camarillo, California established 1956. The school is part of the Oxnard Union High School District and serves students in grades 9–12 in east Camarillo, Somis, and the Santa Rosa V ...

in 1987, she went on to study at San Diego State University, where she began competing in several sporting events: the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

, 100-meter hurdles, long jump, javelin throw and the

800-meter run The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

. In 1994 she received her master's degree in Education of Deafblind Children.

Career

1992 Summer Paralympics

Runyan won four gold medals at the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

in the long jump and the 100, 200, and 400 meter races. She also competed in cycling at those games.

1996 Olympic trials and Paralympics

She attempted to qualify for the "Able Bodied" Olympics at the 1996 U. S. Olympic Trials, finishing 10th in the

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

. While failing to qualify, she ran the 800 meters in 2:04.60, a heptathlon-800m American record. This success convinced her to try distance running. At the

1996 Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internationa ...

in Atlanta, she took silver in the shot put and gold in the

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

1999 Pan American Games and 2000 Summer Olympics

Her career as a world-class runner in able-bodied events began in 1999 at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

in Winnipeg, where she won Gold in the 1,500-meter race and was ranked second in the United States in that event in 1999 by Track and Field News. The next year, she placed eighth in the 1,500-meter in the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, making Runyan the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics and the highest finish by an American woman in that event.

Success at National Championships, release of autobiography

By 2001 she won her first of three consecutive 5000 metre National Championships. She also released her autobiography ''"No Finish Line: My Life As I See It"'' In 2002, she added the road 5K and 10K National Championships, and married her coach, Matt Lonergan. She finished as the top American at the 2002

New York Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 10 seconds to post the second-fastest debut time ever by an American woman. She won the road 5K again in 2003 and qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

by finishing second in the United States Olympic Trials (track and field). She took 2005 off to give birth to her first child, Anna Lee on September 1, but returned to the roads in 2006 winning her second National Championship at 20 km (her first was in 2003).

Awards and recognition

She was the USATF "Runner of the Year" in 2002 and 2006.

World Records

, Runyan holds

IPC IPC may refer to: Computing * Infrastructure protection centre or information security operations center * Instructions per cycle or instructions per clock, an aspect of central-processing performance * Inter-process communication, the sharin ...

World Records in the

T13 classification T13 or T-13 may refer to: Aviation * Dallas South Port Airport, in Ellis County, Texas, United States * Slingsby T.13 Petrel, a British glider * Vultee BT-13A Valiant, an American military trainer Rail and transit Lines * Île-de-France tr ...

for the 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, High Jump, Long Jump and Pentathlon. However, her personal bests at 3000m, 10,000m, and the marathon were also World Records, but were never ratified by the IPC. See marlarunyan.net, th
Official Website of Marla Runyan

References

Marla Runyan biography
provided by the USA Track & Field organization

External links

* * * * Michals, Debra.
"Marla Runyan"
National Women's History Museum. 2015. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Runyan, Marla 1969 births Living people People from Camarillo, California Sportspeople from Santa Maria, California Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Track and field athletes from California American female middle-distance runners American female cyclists Visually impaired middle-distance runners Paralympic middle-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Paralympic cyclists of the United States Paralympic track and field athletes of the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Blind people from the United States World record holders in Paralympic athletics San Diego State Aztecs women's track and field athletes Cyclists from California