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When Olympian Marla Runyan was first diagnosed with Stargardt's disease as a young girl -- an eye condition leading to legal blindness -- her doctor told her that she would never drive, earn anything better than a "C" in school or go to college. In the ensuing years Runyan not only earned a driver's license, straight "As" and a master's degree in special education, but in September, the 31-year-old, legally blind runner competed in the 1500-meter finals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. "My doctor never said anything about the Olympics," Runyan quipped to a large crowd at the Nov. 11 Macular Degeneration and Low Vision Expo, sponsored by the Casey Eye Institute. Olympic runner Marla Runyan (right), who is legally blind, has been an inspiration to youngsters and their families facing similar vision-loss challenges. Runyan, the featured speaker at the event, admitted she never expected her athletic achievements to affect the lives of those who suffer vision loss. "I always thought making the Olympics was only a personal goal. I never thought I'd impact so many," she said, adding that she has since received countless e-mails and letters from visually impaired people throughout the world. "So many of the letters are from parents whose children have Stargardt's (a juvenile form of macular degeneration), asking me what to do, because their child is going legally blind," Runyan said. Based on her experience, Runyan tells them to allow their child to try whatever they want to try. "The future is not written and you have control about how you respond to the vision loss," she said. "Your child will show you what he or she wants to do." Book Marla RunyanContact Gold Medal Greats, the booking agency for Marla Runyan as a motivational speaker or for personal appearances. As Marla Runyan's booking agent, we will be pleased to create a custom package to liven up your conference or trade show, or to make your product launch, infomercial or other endorsement occasion the best possible.
Gold Medal Greats, LLC is an outsourcing Olympic gold medalist talent broker for any occasion or requirement for endorsements, speaking or personal appearances. Because we do not exclusively represent any of the Athletes listed, we make no statements of any kinds as to guaranteeing availability, interest or access to any Athlete. GMG's relationships with Athletes directly, managers and agents provide us access to competitive cost benefits when booking Talent and a knowledge base that would be a significant benefit for all opportunities. In most cases, a Gross Offer for Talent will include GMG's fee. In some cases, GMG's fee will be in addition to the Gross offer. Contact a GMG representative to discuss your specific needs for speakers, motivational speakers, personal appearances, satellite media tours, print, television and internet/web advertising, endorsements, spokespeople, voice-overs, etc.
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