A marathon runner who is legally blind.
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Book Marla Runyan for a Speaking Engagement
Businesses, Non-profit organizations, event planners and companies across the country have worked closely with our booking agents to hire Marla Runyan for a speaking engagements, guest appearances, product endorsements and corporate events. Many of those same clients have continued to turn to our speakers bureau as we can easily align Marla Runyan’s availability with their upcoming seminar, gala, annual conference, corporate function, and grand opening. Our close relationship with Marla Runyan’s booking agent and management team further enables us to provide inquiring clients with Marla Runyan’s speaking fee and appearance cost.
If your goal is to hire Marla Runyan to be your next keynote speaker or to be the next brand ambassador our celebrity speakers bureau can assist. If Marla Runyan’s booking fee is outside your companies budget or your unable to align with his appearance availability, our booking agents can provide you a list of talent that aligns with your event theme, budget and event date.
Marla Runyan 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. 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. Runyan won four gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in the long jump and the 100, 200, and 400 meter races. 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, the Heptathlon 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.
Her career as a world-class runner in able-bodied events began in 1999 at the Pan American Games, where she won the 1,500-meter race. 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, 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. Being an international medalist at 1500 metres and a top major marathon runner is an accomplishment over a wide variety of distances rivaled only by Rod Dixon on the men's side. Medaling at distances as short as 100 metres and diversely explosive events like Shot Put and Long Jump is remarkable versatility.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.
Arguably Runyan's greatest success came at the Paralympic Games, where she has been a five times gold medallist. As of April 2014, 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.
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NOPACTalent acts as a Celebrity Speakers Bureau and Athlete Booking agency for corporate functions, appearances, private events and speaking engagements. NOPACTalent does not claim or represent itself as Marla Runyan’s speakers bureau, agent, manager or management company for Marla Runyan or any celebrity on this website. NOPACTalent represents organizations seeking to hire motivational speakers, athletes, celebrities and entertainers for private corporate events, celebrity endorsements, personal appearances, and speaking engagements.
