Chilean Miner to Run New York City Marathon

Training for a marathon isn't easy -- and it's particularly difficult if you're trapped 2,300 feet underground in a collapsed mine. But that's just what 34-year-old Edison Peña did, running three to six miles each day up and down a dark 1,000-yard path while trapped for 69 long days in the recent Chilean mine disaster. And he did it all in steel-toed boots -- now that's dedication.

His efforts are paying off -- it was recently announced that Peña will be a "special guest of honor" in this weekend's ING New York City Marathon. "[The marathon] is all about inspiration and perseverance, and those values were never more evident than during the survival and rescue of Edison and his brothers in that mine," Mary Wittenberg of the New York Road Runners told NY Daily News.

As for perseverance, Peña -- nicknamed "the runner" by his fellow miners -- seems to have endless amounts. "If I had to run barefoot, I would have done it," he told the Associated Press shortly after his rescue. He credits his daily runs with helping to keep him sane during the ordeal. "Maybe I ran because I was anxious, maybe to find a way out," he said. "Running is a way of releasing tensions, clearing the head, freeing yourself from chaotic thoughts." To keep motivated, he listened to Elvis tunes on his iPod while he worked out.

But now for the million-dollar question: After such a traumatizing ordeal, can he do it? Peña himself seems pretty confident, especially since he's kept up with his training since his October 13 rescue. "I'm running more than an hour a day, on the beach; I don't know how many kilometers that is. I intend to run the entire 26-mile marathon," he told People magazine, adding, "the idea of running the NY Marathon was not something I ever expected to do. It seemed impossible, [but] I'm going to give it my best shot."

If you're going to be at the ING NYC Marathon this year, be sure to cheer Peña on -- with a story like that, he certainly deserves all the positive vibes he can get. Not gonna make it? Keep track of Peña and all the other amazing runners on NYRR's Marathon Channel.

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