| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Marla Lee Runyan |
| Born | January 4, 1969 (age 55) Santa Maria, California, U.S. |
Marla Lee Runyan (married name Lonergan; [1] born January 4, 1969) is an American track and field athlete, road runner and marathon runner who is legally blind. She is a three-time national champion in the women's 5000 metres. She is also an athlete that competed in both the Paralympics and the Olympics, both reaching the finals.
Runyan was born in Santa Maria, California. After graduating from Camarillo High School in 1987, she went on to study at San Diego State University, where she began competing in several sporting events: the heptathlon, 200-meter dash, high jump, shot put, 100-meter hurdles, long jump, javelin throw and the 800-meter run. In 1994 she received her master's degree in Education of Deafblind Children.
Runyan won four gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in the long jump and the 100, 200, and 400 meter races. [2] She also competed in cycling at those games.
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. [2]
Her career as a world-class runner in able-bodied events began in 1999 at the Pan American Games 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, making Runyan the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics and the highest finish by an American woman in that event.
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, [3] and married her coach, Matt Lonergan.
She finished as the top American at the 2002 New York Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 10 seconds to post the second-fastest debut time ever by an American woman.
"I just think it's pretty brave, Marla's very tough, really gutsy. She's been fighting all of her life, and it comes out in her running."
She won the road 5K again in 2003 and qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games 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). [5]
She was the USATF "Runner of the Year" in 2002 and 2006. [6]
As of April 2014 [update] , 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. [7] 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, the Official Website of Marla Runyan.
Sandra "Sandy" Dukat is an American Paralympic athlete. Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, she had her right leg amputated above the knee at the age of four. She has competed internationally in alpine skiing, swimming and triathlon. As of February 2013, she holds the marathon world record for above-knee amputee women.
Jennifer Rhines is an American long-distance runner who competes in track, cross country and road running events. She has competed in three different Summer Olympics and made 15 US Teams.
Diana Lynn Pickler is an American heptathlete from Shreveport, Louisiana. She has represented her country at the Olympic and World Championship levels and was the 2009 US heptathlon champion. Her twin sister, Julie Pickler, is also a track and field athlete.
Molly Huddle is an American long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She held the American record in the 5000 meters set in 2014 in Monaco (14:42.64), which has since been lowered by Shannon Rowbury, Shelby Houlihan and Alicia Monson. Huddle held also the American record in the 10,000 meters set at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a time of 30:13.17, which has since been lowered by Alicia Monson.
Lauren Fleshman is an American runner, coach, author, and retired professional track and field athlete. She was the U.S. 5000 meters champion in 2006 and 2010, and competed at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2003, 2005, and 2011. In the 5000 meter final of the 2011 IAAF World Championships she finished in 7th place, equalling what was at the time the highest ever finish by an American woman in that event.
Sharon Day-Monroe is an American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion.
Kim Conley is an American track and field athlete, who competes in middle and long distance track events. She finished in third place at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in the 5,000 meters, where she finished twelfth in her heat.
Chantae McMillan is an American heptathlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Juan Diego Estrada Constantino is a Mexican-American long-distance runner. He competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for Mexico. After some confusion about his eligibility after becoming a U.S. citizen, he was excluded from the U.S. Olympic trials even though it was later known that Estrada was misinformed on his eligibility possibilities. Estrada resides in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Benjamin True is an American track and field and cross-country athlete, who competed for Dartmouth College and currently trains in Hanover, New Hampshire, while competing for Saucony and In the Arena. True was the top American at both the 2011 and 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, as well as the 2011 USATF Road Running Circuit Champion, winning the 5 km and 10 km Road Championships along the way.
Abbey Cooper is an American middle- and long-distance runner. Cooper is the most decorated Ivy League athlete in track and field and cross country running. She is the first Dartmouth female distance runner to win an NCAA title. She won a total of seven NCAA titles in her career. In 2014, she became a professional runner for New Balance.
Barbara Udoezi Nwaba is an American track and field athlete who represents the Santa Barbara Track Club. Nwaba is known for the multi events, pentathlon and heptathlon. She is the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field champion in the heptathlon.
Shelby Houlihan is an American middle distance runner, Olympian and World Record holder in the 4x1500m relay who is currently serving a doping ban. Houlihan competed in the 5000m final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, finishing 11th. She is a 12-time US National Champion winning seven indoor and five outdoor titles in middle-distance events. While at Arizona State University she won the 2014 NCAA 1500m championship.
Heather Miller-Koch is an American track and field athlete who represents the Central Park Track Club. She participates in multi events, the pentathlon and heptathlon.
Molly Seidel is an American long distance runner. Seidel represented the United States at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country in 2012, 2013, and 2018. In her first-ever marathon, Seidel placed second at the 2020 U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials. Later, she went on to win the bronze medal in her third career marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At the University of Notre Dame, Seidel was a 4-time NCAA champion, 6-time NCAA All-American, 6-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion and 2016 female ACC Athlete of the Year.
Lisa Aguilera is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the 3000 meters steeplechase. She represented her country at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. the 2006 IAAF World Cup and the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup. She was a two-time national champion in the steeplechase at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, formerly known as the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships, is an annual outdoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field (USATF) which serves as the national championship for American athletes aged under 20. The competition is also used for American national team selection for the IAAF World U20 Championships in even-numbered years and the Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in odd-numbered years.
Hope Bender is an American track and field athlete, known for multiple events and hurdles. She competed for the Santa Barbara Track Club and coached at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos before moving to San Marcos, Texas to train at Texas State University in Fall 2023. Bender studied to be a Biotechnology engineer.
Chari Wanda Hawkins is an American track and field athlete who competes in combined events. She won the 2022 U.S. Indoor Pentathlon title and has represented the U.S. in the heptathlon at the 2019 World Championships, finishing 12th, and at the 2023 World Championships, finishing 8th.
Anna Hall is an American athlete specializing in the combined events. She won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2023 World Championships and the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Hall is the North American indoor record holder for the pentathlon.
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
