Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Race to Remember: Marla Runyan
Aired November 04, 2002 - 10:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It was a race to remember for Olympian Marla Runyan. She ran yesterday in the New York City marathon, finishing first among American women and fifth overall.
Rodgers Rop of Kenya won the Sunday marathon, but Runyan didn't just beat the competition; she is beating the odds.
Marla Runyan is the first legally blind Olympian. She suffers from Stargardt's disease, a degenerative eye condition that greatly limits her sight, but not her abilities in no way, shape, form or fashion.
Runyan did slow down long enough to sit down and write the book, "No Finish Line: My Life as I See It."
And Marla Runyan is back with us again. She is there in our New York studios to talk some more about the race yesterday. And where does a woman like Marla Runyan run from here?
Marla, good morning. How are you doing today?
MARLA RUNYAN, LEGALLY BLIND OLYMPIAN: Hi, Leon -- good morning.
HARRIS: Now, let's see, we talked Friday.
RUNYAN: Yes.
HARRIS: And when I talked to you Friday, I asked you, I said, OK, what would be a good time for you? And you told me "2:28," didn't you?
RUNYAN: I did, yes. And I kind of beat that a little. I ran a little faster.
HARRIS: You sure did. I can't believe -- you know what? For me, it's amazing that you would even predict coming that close. That's fantastic.
RUNYAN: Yes, well, I was training to run, you know, 2:26, so I was, you know, training to run a specific pace.
HARRIS: And you did. Now, 2:27 was your time, and that put you as the first American woman finishing there. And the way the race shaped up, it looks like it was a very good idea for them to have the elite women start off first, as they did this time around. Did that really help you out big time? RUNYAN: Yes, that was ideal. I really am thankful for that elite women's start; that we were completely separate from the men. And I hope they continue that, because that made a lot of difference for me. It was just great to just have a women's-only field and just to be able to watch each other and, you know, compete with each other.
HARRIS: Daryn Kagan and I chatted about this, this morning. She runs quite a bit herself. And she says it's hard even for her, and she's got great vision, to keep her feet when she's running. How were you able to run in a crowd of people, like you had to do for an hour at least, a good hour, yesterday, and not have any problems of either bumping into people or keeping, you know, at least some of the landmarks in some kind of sight at all? How did that work out for you?
RUNYAN: It was not a problem at all. I mean, because I came from the track, and actually racing on the track is much more difficult, because you're running so much faster and you have a pack of runners, you know, all trying to get into lane one, and a lot of jostling around.
And then, the marathon, you have the open road, and there's more room. I mean, we kind of -- the pack was real tight I think because of the wind. There was a lot of wind throughout the course, and we were trying to get close together and, you know, have people in front of you break the wind, and I didn't have any trouble.
I mean, there were some trip-ups obviously going on in the field that just is part of a close-pack situation, but it really was -- it was fine. I had no problems.
HARRIS: Yes, you weren't worried about that.
RUNYAN: No problems.
HARRIS: You weren't worried about that happening to you, OK.
RUNYAN: No, not at all.
HARRIS: That's great. All right, well, let me ask you this. We've got only a few seconds here. I've got to ask you, how does this experience compare running in the New York marathon coming in fifth like this, the first time in a marathon? And this, from a former middle distance runner. How would you compare that with being the first para-Olympian to compete in the Olympics? How would you compare those two?
RUNYAN: Well, they're pretty close. I honestly feel as an American, if I could come back to New York and win the New York City marathon, that would be -- that would be equal to an Olympic gold medal.
HARRIS: Yes.
RUNYAN: Because to be an American and run and win in New York City -- which we haven't had in many, many years, almost 30 years now it hasn't happened for the women -- and maybe I can be the first to do it. I would love to be the first to do it, but I think it's something I might strongly consider.
HARRIS: Yes, so now, are you hooked on the marathon?
RUNYAN: I really had a positive experience, I should say. I really thought -- I can see so much room in there to improve and run faster.
HARRIS: Really?
RUNYAN: And, yes, I really do. And I think that it's a possibility you'll see me again.
HARRIS: And the last two times we talked, I didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about the blindness, because I know you don't really like to emphasize that, but I have to ask you this now. After you've achieved this, what does this say about what can be achieved by people like you?
RUNYAN: Well, I think, you know, if you just focus specifically on your goals and what you want to achieve and you don't let, you know, anything -- you know, impairments or anything disability-wise to slow you down, I mean, I think people would be amazed at what they can accomplish. I really do, if they just -- if they are willing to work at it, and that's what I do.
HARRIS: Well, you certainly have been a person who has been willing to work on things. And, Marla, congratulations. You called it on Friday -- glad to see you pull it off. Way to go -- hope to talk to you again down the road.
RUNYAN: Thanks.
HARRIS: And by the way...
RUNYAN: Oh, thanks.
HARRIS: ... on my flight from New York, I was reading -- finishing up your book, and you'd be surprised how many folks know about your story -- lots...
RUNYAN: Really? Oh, that's...
HARRIS: Lots had made comments about it.
RUNYAN: Oh, that's great. That's great.
HARRIS: Well, you're great -- congratulations. Hope to talk to you again down the road.
RUNYAN: Thanks, Leon.
HARRIS: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 4, 2002 - 10:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It was a race to remember for Olympian Marla Runyan. She ran yesterday in the New York City marathon, finishing first among American women and fifth overall.
Rodgers Rop of Kenya won the Sunday marathon, but Runyan didn't just beat the competition; she is beating the odds.
Marla Runyan is the first legally blind Olympian. She suffers from Stargardt's disease, a degenerative eye condition that greatly limits her sight, but not her abilities in no way, shape, form or fashion.
Runyan did slow down long enough to sit down and write the book, "No Finish Line: My Life as I See It."
And Marla Runyan is back with us again. She is there in our New York studios to talk some more about the race yesterday. And where does a woman like Marla Runyan run from here?
Marla, good morning. How are you doing today?
MARLA RUNYAN, LEGALLY BLIND OLYMPIAN: Hi, Leon -- good morning.
HARRIS: Now, let's see, we talked Friday.
RUNYAN: Yes.
HARRIS: And when I talked to you Friday, I asked you, I said, OK, what would be a good time for you? And you told me "2:28," didn't you?
RUNYAN: I did, yes. And I kind of beat that a little. I ran a little faster.
HARRIS: You sure did. I can't believe -- you know what? For me, it's amazing that you would even predict coming that close. That's fantastic.
RUNYAN: Yes, well, I was training to run, you know, 2:26, so I was, you know, training to run a specific pace.
HARRIS: And you did. Now, 2:27 was your time, and that put you as the first American woman finishing there. And the way the race shaped up, it looks like it was a very good idea for them to have the elite women start off first, as they did this time around. Did that really help you out big time? RUNYAN: Yes, that was ideal. I really am thankful for that elite women's start; that we were completely separate from the men. And I hope they continue that, because that made a lot of difference for me. It was just great to just have a women's-only field and just to be able to watch each other and, you know, compete with each other.
HARRIS: Daryn Kagan and I chatted about this, this morning. She runs quite a bit herself. And she says it's hard even for her, and she's got great vision, to keep her feet when she's running. How were you able to run in a crowd of people, like you had to do for an hour at least, a good hour, yesterday, and not have any problems of either bumping into people or keeping, you know, at least some of the landmarks in some kind of sight at all? How did that work out for you?
RUNYAN: It was not a problem at all. I mean, because I came from the track, and actually racing on the track is much more difficult, because you're running so much faster and you have a pack of runners, you know, all trying to get into lane one, and a lot of jostling around.
And then, the marathon, you have the open road, and there's more room. I mean, we kind of -- the pack was real tight I think because of the wind. There was a lot of wind throughout the course, and we were trying to get close together and, you know, have people in front of you break the wind, and I didn't have any trouble.
I mean, there were some trip-ups obviously going on in the field that just is part of a close-pack situation, but it really was -- it was fine. I had no problems.
HARRIS: Yes, you weren't worried about that.
RUNYAN: No problems.
HARRIS: You weren't worried about that happening to you, OK.
RUNYAN: No, not at all.
HARRIS: That's great. All right, well, let me ask you this. We've got only a few seconds here. I've got to ask you, how does this experience compare running in the New York marathon coming in fifth like this, the first time in a marathon? And this, from a former middle distance runner. How would you compare that with being the first para-Olympian to compete in the Olympics? How would you compare those two?
RUNYAN: Well, they're pretty close. I honestly feel as an American, if I could come back to New York and win the New York City marathon, that would be -- that would be equal to an Olympic gold medal.
HARRIS: Yes.
RUNYAN: Because to be an American and run and win in New York City -- which we haven't had in many, many years, almost 30 years now it hasn't happened for the women -- and maybe I can be the first to do it. I would love to be the first to do it, but I think it's something I might strongly consider.
HARRIS: Yes, so now, are you hooked on the marathon?
RUNYAN: I really had a positive experience, I should say. I really thought -- I can see so much room in there to improve and run faster.
HARRIS: Really?
RUNYAN: And, yes, I really do. And I think that it's a possibility you'll see me again.
HARRIS: And the last two times we talked, I didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about the blindness, because I know you don't really like to emphasize that, but I have to ask you this now. After you've achieved this, what does this say about what can be achieved by people like you?
RUNYAN: Well, I think, you know, if you just focus specifically on your goals and what you want to achieve and you don't let, you know, anything -- you know, impairments or anything disability-wise to slow you down, I mean, I think people would be amazed at what they can accomplish. I really do, if they just -- if they are willing to work at it, and that's what I do.
HARRIS: Well, you certainly have been a person who has been willing to work on things. And, Marla, congratulations. You called it on Friday -- glad to see you pull it off. Way to go -- hope to talk to you again down the road.
RUNYAN: Thanks.
HARRIS: And by the way...
RUNYAN: Oh, thanks.
HARRIS: ... on my flight from New York, I was reading -- finishing up your book, and you'd be surprised how many folks know about your story -- lots...
RUNYAN: Really? Oh, that's...
HARRIS: Lots had made comments about it.
RUNYAN: Oh, that's great. That's great.
HARRIS: Well, you're great -- congratulations. Hope to talk to you again down the road.
RUNYAN: Thanks, Leon.
HARRIS: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
