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American Morning

Interview With Marla Runyan

Aired October 31, 2003 - 09:43   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Marla Runyan has been legally blind since childhood. But that has not stopped her from becoming a world class distance runner. She's the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympic Games and is the highest ranked American in the field for this Sunday's New York Marathon.
Marla Runyan joins us live this morning. It's nice to have you. Thanks for joining us. How you feeling going into Sunday?

MARLA RUNYAN, BLIND LONG DISTANCE RUNNER: I'm nervous.

O'BRIEN: Are you always nervous before a race?

RUNYAN: Well, marathons are so unpredictable in nature. And we have just such an elite women's field this year, that you know, it's going to be a real challenging race.

O'BRIEN: Some great competition out there.

RUNYAN: Great competition.

O'BRIEN: Which is great for those of us who are going to watch the race this year.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: And I read that you stopped training for the world championships in Paris in order to focus on New York. I know that the one in Paris is a track as opposed to New York.

RUNYAN: Exactly. I kind of just overtrained a bit this summer and I had to make some decisions. And I felt like maybe getting some rest in August to then prepare for New York City was a better choice for me.

I just wanted to run well here so badly. I love New York City Marathon. And this year, of course, it's now the ING New York City Marathon. Which is great, first ever title sponsor. That really important to me to do well here.

O'BRIEN: You have been blind, as we mentioned, since childhood. When we show clips of you running, first of all, you're going so fast. but I don't see anyone running with you.

The few times that I've run a 10K I've seen blind runners who are tethered to another person as a guide. How do you know where you're going? How much can you see? RUNYAN: Well, actually, I'm considered legally blind, which is quite a bit different than someone who is totally blind. So my visual acuity is measured at about 20/400 in both eyes. And that's the best my vision can be.

O'BRIEN: But you're running down streets. There are potholes.

RUNYAN: I know. I like to say that I have a pretty good field of vision of about ten feet. So ten feet of the ground below me, ten feet to the side, I can see the surface of the ground that I'm running on. And I can run very -- obviously I run very independently. I don't need a guide runner.

O'BRIEN: Yes, because we see you blowing by everybody all alone. Who is she running with as her guide? How fast are you going in your sprints in the marathon?

RUNYAN: Well, last year I averaged 5:37s per mile. Because I ran 2:27:10. And if someone asked me my goal, just to one 5:35 per mile. Even a second per mile over the full distance adds up. And if you can drop just a couple of seconds you're going to drop a full minute by the time you cross the finish line.

O'BRIEN: Right, you're doing great.

Tell me how you're feeling about the weather? For those of us again who are going to watch the marathon it's going to be a beautiful day. But marathoner, my husband is going to run New York and he is so disappointed, about 70 degree predicted temperatures.

RUNYAN: The latest I heard this morning is now they're thinking it might cool down which would be great. We like it cold. I personally would prefer even high 40s to low 50s. Staying in the 50s is OK. But when you start getting over 65, it does get hot out there.

O'BRIEN: It's hot.

RUNYAN: Because you're working so hard, your body is, you know, emitting a lot of heat. So we prefer to have it chilly, and so warm weather is kind of like oh, we don't want it that warm. We'll just wait and see. Because we don't know until Sunday morning.

O'BRIEN: All my friends who run very, very, very slow marathons are all saying the exact same thing.

I read that you had a problem in years past with the water cups. That's a tricky thing to do anyway.

RUNYAN: It is.

(CROSSTALK)

RUNYAN: It takes a lot of practice to learn, first of all, how to grab the water as you run by. But also how to drink it while you're actually running.

O'BRIEN: Have you practiced?

RUNYAN: I practice in training. And this year I'm marking -- I have six Elite water stations for the Elite athletes. And I will have my bottles marked with about a two foot flag. So hopefully I'll get it this time. I can actually grab the flag and not have to worry about picking up a tiny little bottle.

So it seemed to work really well this year when I ran Boston so I'm going to do the same thing.

O'BRIEN: Tell me about the charity you're running for. let's get a good plug in for your charity.

RUNYAN: OK, yes. First ever, ING has established this run for something better, charity programs. Absolutely wonderful. I get to run for Estonia Park right here in New York City. And then I also choose a charity in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon.

And I chose Bolder Options Running Program which is a mentorship program, pairing up volunteers in the community with at-risk teenagers and youth, and then giving the kids shoes and getting out and going running. So it's a great way to kind of bring sports, athletics, into their lives.

O'BRIEN: Mentoring.

RUNYAN: And it's just worked so well. It's just a great program.

O'BRIEN: It sounds like a great program. Marla Runyan, nice to see you. Nice to have you. Best of luck. I'll be rooting for you because we're so thrilled. Maybe you'll get to pull it off this year. It'd be great to see.

RUNYAN: I would love that. I'll do my best.

O'BRIEN: We would love it, too. Thanks so much.

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 October 31, 2003 - 09:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Marla Runyan has been legally blind since childhood. But that has not stopped her from becoming a world class distance runner. She's the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympic Games and is the highest ranked American in the field for this Sunday's New York Marathon.
Marla Runyan joins us live this morning. It's nice to have you. Thanks for joining us. How you feeling going into Sunday?

MARLA RUNYAN, BLIND LONG DISTANCE RUNNER: I'm nervous.

O'BRIEN: Are you always nervous before a race?

RUNYAN: Well, marathons are so unpredictable in nature. And we have just such an elite women's field this year, that you know, it's going to be a real challenging race.

O'BRIEN: Some great competition out there.

RUNYAN: Great competition.

O'BRIEN: Which is great for those of us who are going to watch the race this year.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: And I read that you stopped training for the world championships in Paris in order to focus on New York. I know that the one in Paris is a track as opposed to New York.

RUNYAN: Exactly. I kind of just overtrained a bit this summer and I had to make some decisions. And I felt like maybe getting some rest in August to then prepare for New York City was a better choice for me.

I just wanted to run well here so badly. I love New York City Marathon. And this year, of course, it's now the ING New York City Marathon. Which is great, first ever title sponsor. That really important to me to do well here.

O'BRIEN: You have been blind, as we mentioned, since childhood. When we show clips of you running, first of all, you're going so fast. but I don't see anyone running with you.

The few times that I've run a 10K I've seen blind runners who are tethered to another person as a guide. How do you know where you're going? How much can you see? RUNYAN: Well, actually, I'm considered legally blind, which is quite a bit different than someone who is totally blind. So my visual acuity is measured at about 20/400 in both eyes. And that's the best my vision can be.

O'BRIEN: But you're running down streets. There are potholes.

RUNYAN: I know. I like to say that I have a pretty good field of vision of about ten feet. So ten feet of the ground below me, ten feet to the side, I can see the surface of the ground that I'm running on. And I can run very -- obviously I run very independently. I don't need a guide runner.

O'BRIEN: Yes, because we see you blowing by everybody all alone. Who is she running with as her guide? How fast are you going in your sprints in the marathon?

RUNYAN: Well, last year I averaged 5:37s per mile. Because I ran 2:27:10. And if someone asked me my goal, just to one 5:35 per mile. Even a second per mile over the full distance adds up. And if you can drop just a couple of seconds you're going to drop a full minute by the time you cross the finish line.

O'BRIEN: Right, you're doing great.

Tell me how you're feeling about the weather? For those of us again who are going to watch the marathon it's going to be a beautiful day. But marathoner, my husband is going to run New York and he is so disappointed, about 70 degree predicted temperatures.

RUNYAN: The latest I heard this morning is now they're thinking it might cool down which would be great. We like it cold. I personally would prefer even high 40s to low 50s. Staying in the 50s is OK. But when you start getting over 65, it does get hot out there.

O'BRIEN: It's hot.

RUNYAN: Because you're working so hard, your body is, you know, emitting a lot of heat. So we prefer to have it chilly, and so warm weather is kind of like oh, we don't want it that warm. We'll just wait and see. Because we don't know until Sunday morning.

O'BRIEN: All my friends who run very, very, very slow marathons are all saying the exact same thing.

I read that you had a problem in years past with the water cups. That's a tricky thing to do anyway.

RUNYAN: It is.

(CROSSTALK)

RUNYAN: It takes a lot of practice to learn, first of all, how to grab the water as you run by. But also how to drink it while you're actually running.

O'BRIEN: Have you practiced?

RUNYAN: I practice in training. And this year I'm marking -- I have six Elite water stations for the Elite athletes. And I will have my bottles marked with about a two foot flag. So hopefully I'll get it this time. I can actually grab the flag and not have to worry about picking up a tiny little bottle.

So it seemed to work really well this year when I ran Boston so I'm going to do the same thing.

O'BRIEN: Tell me about the charity you're running for. let's get a good plug in for your charity.

RUNYAN: OK, yes. First ever, ING has established this run for something better, charity programs. Absolutely wonderful. I get to run for Estonia Park right here in New York City. And then I also choose a charity in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon.

And I chose Bolder Options Running Program which is a mentorship program, pairing up volunteers in the community with at-risk teenagers and youth, and then giving the kids shoes and getting out and going running. So it's a great way to kind of bring sports, athletics, into their lives.

O'BRIEN: Mentoring.

RUNYAN: And it's just worked so well. It's just a great program.

O'BRIEN: It sounds like a great program. Marla Runyan, nice to see you. Nice to have you. Best of luck. I'll be rooting for you because we're so thrilled. Maybe you'll get to pull it off this year. It'd be great to see.

RUNYAN: I would love that. I'll do my best.

O'BRIEN: We would love it, too. Thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com