Ever Try Running

EVER TRY RUNNING with your eyes closed? It’s not a good idea . . . unless you enjoy head injuries. Running blind usually doesn’t work out too well. But distance runner Marla Runyan runs nearly blind every time she takes the track.

A degenerative retina condition called Stargardt disease left the California native legally blind at age nine. Despite having 20/300 vision in one eye and 20/400 in the other, she competed as a high jumper at San Diego State. Later, she switched to the heptathlon and finished tenth in the 1996 Olympic trials. But eventually this courageous athlete concentrated only on the 1,500 meters.

One month before the 2000 Olympics trials, the 31-year-old suffered a training accident. While on a practice run, she injured her knee in a near collision with a child on a bicycle. With workouts limited to the swimming pool, the 1999 1,500-meter Pan American Games champion considered withdrawing.

After deciding she could block out the pain, Runyan set her sights on third and a berth to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Conceding the top positions to Regina Jacobs and Suzy Favor Hamilton, she focused on beating Shayne Culpepper.

Memorizing her uniform color and hairstyle, Marla found Culpepper as the pack entered the final lap. From her sixth-place position, she passed two runners and finished third in a time of 4:06.44.

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POINT Amazing! Not only did Marla Runyan compete with an injury, she did so without the sight most athletes enjoy. And in those 2000 Olympics, Runyan finished eighth with the best American time of 4:08.30, beating both Jacobs and Hamilton.

Many visually impaired people, like Runyan, learn to compensate in other ways. Their hearing becomes acute. They can sense the location of objects and people by movement, heat, and breathing. Runyan learned to distinguish fuzzy objects by shape and color.

In the Bible, God promises that he guides us when we can’t find our way through life’s changing and disappointing times. The Lord smoothes life’s rough spots and shines his light in our darkness.

GOAL! Ask God to guide the 16 million legally blind people worldwide. Praise him for helping you through dark days.