Press Conference: Marla Runyan
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Marla
Runyan runs on Regina Jacobs' shoulder during the 2001 Millrose
Games. |
In a 2-12-01
press conference, it was announced that Marla Runyan will attempt to
break the indoor 5,000m American Record at New York City's Armory Track
& Field Center on Sunday, February 18 as part of the New York Road
Runners Record Challenge Series. Runyan spoke to reporters via telephone
from her home in Eugene, Oregon.
Press Release | Official
Marla Runyan web site | Runyan Bio
General
thoughts on the race:
I'm really looking forward to the race and I feel I'm ready. A friend
of mine and I came up with this idea last fall and we thought this would
be a nice way to have a goal for the indoor season -- something to really
focus on and that would be really fun and keep me motivated and keep
me focused on breaking a record... It's finally here so I'm really looking
forward to it.
Who will
rabbit the race, what will the target splits be:
Alisa Harvey is going to be pacesetting. She's run everything from the
800m to the marathon (laughs). She's going to look at trying to go to
3k. I'm probably looking to run it finishing faster than I start. So
yeah, maybe even splits, maybe even a little bit slower in the first
2k. I imagine once Alisa steps off that I'll pick it up from there.
On her
racing history over 5,000m:
[I ran} my first 5,000m last spring in May outdoors (at the Oregon Twilight
Meet in Eugene) -- I ran 15:07. And that's actually my one and only
5,000m on the track.
Has she
been training for the 5,000m:
Yes, I've been training for the 5,000m, it's probably going to be my
focus outdoors as well this year.
On how
her life has changed since the Olympics:
Since the Trials, basically, I've received a great deal of support in
terms of the letters and mail and e-mails. Also, after the Olympic Games
another several hundred e-mails came through. Even though I didn't medal
or place really high up in the finals, a lot of people were happy for
me that I made the finals and that I took the lead and made an attempt
to get in the race and make it a fast race or make it a faster race...
The support has been great, the response has been really great but I
pretty much have just been focusing on my running and training more
than anything else.
On her
coaching situation:
My coach is Margo Jennings and she's here in Eugene, Oregon. She's been
Maria Mutola's coach (a gold medalist from Mozambique in the 800m) since
she was in high school, for over 10 years.
Is it
true Jennings had to ask Mutola's permission to coach Runyan:
Yes, Margo asked Maria if Maria would feel okay with it because Margo
puts a lot of energy and time into her coaching and she likes to coach
one athlete at a time locally. Maria was actually really excited about
it. Maria is training in Africa right now. Margo sends her her workouts
via fax and e-mail. They've been together so long that they've been
able to work out a good long-distance relationship.
On the
Armory's track facility:
I hear that the Armory track is a beautiful track... Everyone who's
run there has run so well on it. Regina's 4:21 mile, Alan Webb's 3:59,
Amy Rudolph ran a great mile there this year. Everyone has told me that
it just feels like a great track, it feels smooth when you're on it.
So I'm really, really lucky and happy to be making this attempt on that
track.
On her
current fitness:
I'm not going to make a prediction, I'm going to hopefully surprise
myself. I can say that I think I am just as fit as when I ran 15:07
outdoors. I think I'm right around there in fitness level. But I also
think this is a different race, this is a race where we're racing the
clock. When I ran 15:07, I was racing my competitors. This is indoors,
that was outdoors, this is winter, that was spring... So there's a lot
of differences here and I just think if I have a good one, I should
be well under the record, hopefully.
On her
health since the Olympics:
I've been training really consistently and I haven't had any troubles.
I learned my lesson from last year and years previous so I really take
care of myself and get in my recovery days and make sure that nothing
interrupts my training.
On whether
or not the record (15:22.64 by Lynn Jennings) is a soft one:
I think it is because the 5,000m just isn't run that often indoors.
I believe our performance in the 3,000 nationally, historically and
internationally are more competitive than the 5,000 one because it's
not an event that's raced at the World Championships indoors so it's
just not run often. That makes it less likely that there would be a
really fast time for the 5. I think it's still a challenging record
though. That's a lot of volume to be running on a banked track, it's
definitely harder than outdoors.
How does
her vision impact her racing:
It's not a problem at all. I don't have any trouble leading a race or
running solo. I train train pretty much alone, so it's not a problem
at all. I can see the railing of the track, so I'm not going to step
on the infield. I feel very comfortable outdoors and indoors. Just like
everyone else, when you start to fatigue on a banked track you can lose
balance or stumble... For this race in particular, I don't have to worry
about that, it's really just me and the clock.
On her
move up to the 5,000m:
I guess I felt that my first race in that event, as a debut, was pretty
good and I feel I have a lot of potential in that event. I also feel
in the process of training for the 5,000m, I will still run 1,500s in
meets and races along the way and expect to improve in the 1,500 as
well. Right now, my goals are set on the 5,000m at the World Championships.
Ian Brooks
on who else will be in the race:
Ian Brooks: This weekend is also the USATF Cross Country Championships
so anybody who's anybody is there, apart from Marla. Alisa Harvey is
hoping to go through 3,000m somewhere between 9:07 and 9:12 and after
that it'll be Marla against the clock before a capacity crowd of 3,500
high school athletes with me on the microphone and Walt Murphy alongside
me urging Marla on. The other confirmed competitor is Danielle Thornal
from Great Britain who won an 800 this last week in 2:08.5 and ran 4:42
(mile) at the New Balance Games, but no one can go with Marla, to the
best of my knowledge.
On whether
she prefers running indoors or outdoors:
I prefer outdoors because outdoors is always the primary focus for me.
Indoor season you're kind of in a conflict with your training because
you're trying to race but you're also trying to develop your base for
your outdoor season. For me personally, there is a difference in my
fitness level -- I'm going to be fitter outdoors than indoors no matter
what because that's my focus... I also want to do well at indoor nationals
in the 3,000m and go after this record to kind of keep me kind of focused,
on my toes and have some good races this indoor season to complement
my training.
What her
plans are for the indoor season:
The plan right now is to run the 3,000m at indoor nationals. At this
point I have a previous commitment (a speaking engagement) so I may
not be going to Worlds, even if I make the team, but I still want to
run very well at nationals.
On her
Millrose mile and whether or not it's indicative of her fitness:
God, no (laughs), not at all. There was no pacesetter so that set the
race up to be a very slow and tactical, bumping, stepping on each other,
falling down kind of a race. It's hard to even call that a race, it
was more of a game, I guess you could say, but when you don't have a
pacesetter and no one in the field wants to take the lead then that's
kind of to be expected. I'd kind of like to live and learn from Millrose
and move on from there because that didn't really indicate my fitness
level.
What her
training will consist of between now and the race:
My training right now, obviously, is focused on recovering and just
being well-rested for the race. I have one more training session...
it will probably be a race-pace simulation or a little faster than race
pace, but it will not be something that will break me down very much
at all. That's planned for Tuesday and then I'll focus on easy runs,
recovery runs, or just taking a day off entirely. I'm getting to New
York late on Thursday night. I'll have a restful day Friday, maybe some
easy jogging and strides on Saturday and race Sunday.
On her
vision:
It's called Stargardt's Disease, it's a form of macular degeneration,
I've had it since I was nine and my visual acuity has been affected
so I have about 20-400 vision in both my eyes which can't be corrected
with lenses or glasses. But I've been living and running and training
and competing with this for over 20 years so I don't feel it slowing
me down at all.
On the
media's focus on her vision:
I don't think everybody has made a big deal out of it. Some people do,
some people don't. I guess I don't feel either way about it. I just
feel as though I don't want it to take away from my running or my accomplishments
as a runner, in and of itself. And I also don't want it to overshadow
the accomplishments of my competitors in any given race -- if they've
run well and they beat me, and yet the focus is on my vision, I feel
a little self-conscious about that. I just don't want it to become more
of a big deal than the race and what's being performed on the track.
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