Posted: April 22, 2006

Athletics: Runyan Returns With Usa 10,000M Leader

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

Two-time Olympian Marla Runyan ran her first race in over a year and a half last night, handily winning the 10,000m at the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore. Her winning time of 32:11.92 was an early U.S. leader, a personal best, and the sixth-fastest time in the world so far this year. It was only her second attempt at the distance on the track (she's also run 31:46 on the road).

Runyan, a two-time Olympian, ran her last race on Oct. 10, 2004, at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon where she finished seventh in 2:28:33. She became pregnant the following year, giving birth last Sept. 1 to daughter Anna Lee Lonergan. Runyan, 37, is married to her coach, Matt Lonergan.

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With impressive range, Runyan is one of the best distance runners the United States has ever produced. She has excellent leg speed, with a 4:02.95 1500m personal best (7th fastest USA all-time performer) and an 8th place finish at the 2000 Olympics at that event. But she has run fast throughout the range of distance events, with personal bests of 14:59.20 for 5000m (5th fastest USA all-time performer) up to 2:27:10 for the marathon (also 5th fastest USA performer). A former heptathlete, she once scored 5761 points.

In last night's race, Runyan finished well ahead of second place Nicole Feest (33:47.68).

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