What makes Marla Runyan
by Frappa Stout
ONLY 9 YEARS OLD when she
was diagnosed with an irreversible disease that reduced her vision to a
sliver of sight, Marla Runyan was literally running nearly blind by the
time she entered high school. But she kept running. And winning races. To
overcome the loneliness and embarrassment of her condition, she pushed
herself to learn horseback riding and violin before settling on track and
field.
Last year, the California native became the first-ever legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics, coming in eighth at Sydney in the 1,500 meters (nearly a mile) - the highest an American woman had ever placed. We caught up with Runyan, 32, whose just-published memoir, No Finish Line: My Life As I See It (Putnam Publishing, $26.95), tells how an insecure "disabled" child became a success:
What was the hardest time in your running career?
Believe it or not, it was in high school, before running the 400-meter race. I would stand on the track and cry. As a kid, you're so intense and serious about everything. It was very [physically] painful.
Why was it painful?
Because 400 meters is a long distance for a kid [about a quarter-mile].
Why did you run?
I changed schools a lot because of my vision. So most of the time my biggest concern was who to eat lunch with and how not to be a loser. I felt more like everyone else when I ran - that my vision didn't matter.
But you couldn't see ahead or even the finish line ...
I have some peripheral vision, and I can see the track right in front of me. People just have to tell me whether I win or lose!
You've won a lot. Has your motivation for running changed?
You have to love the process. You're talking about hundreds of miles of work and then a race that takes four minutes. You can't base everything on that one race. You can't postpone self-approval or happiness, or you're going to be disappointed.
What do you do when you're not running?
My [boyfriend], Matt Lonergan, and I have a house [in Eugene, Ore.]; he's a distance runner. I have to be with another runner. It becomes so much of your life. We go hiking, or we go up into the mountains and run.
But you must do something not related to running ...
Well, I want to take a wood shop class at the community college to be able to do things around the house. Matt and I go to the movies and play with our golden retriever, Summer. I listen to music, especially Matchbox Twenty, Counting Crows and Eric Clapton.
So you wear headphones when you run?
No. You never wear headphones when you run - it's completely out of etiquette.
What's next for you?
The national championships in June, and I might try [my first] marathon. I want to leave this sport knowing I got the most out of it I could.
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