Marla Lee Runyan (married name Lonergan; born January 4, 1969) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, road runner and marathon runner who is legally blind. She is a three-time national champion in the women's 5000 metres.

Early life and education

Runyan was born in

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish for "St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County. It is approximately northwest of Santa Barbara and northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the 202 ...

. After graduating from Camarillo High School in 1987, she went on to study at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, where she began competing in several sporting events: the heptathlon,

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 slight ...

, high jump, shot put, 100-meter hurdles,

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the wom ...

and the 800-meter run. 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) , eve ...

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

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 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, 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 ...

, 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 USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 a ...

"Runner of the Year" in 2002 and 2006.

World Records

, Runyan holds IPC World Records in the T13 classification 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 USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

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