Of the 33 miners stranded beneath the mountains of Chile after a collapse in a gold and copper mine, there were two outstanding stories.  One of them was the miner whose wife and mistress met outside the cave while waiting for news of their mutual loved one.  The other was the story of Edison Pena, the Elvis-loving miner who ran up to six miles a day underground, wearing a pair of work boots cut off at the ankles.  From the mine to Manhattan, Edison Pena is still running.  On Sunday, the running miner Edison Pena finished the New York City Marathon in 5 hours 40 minutes.  Not bad for a guy who was trapped in a mine three weeks ago!

“I could have just been a special guest, but I wanted to take up the challenge of running, and perhaps that was a mistake,” Pena said.  “But I wanted to show that I could do it.”  Edison was nearly forced out after pain in his left knee forced him to seek medical treatment between miles 19 and 20, but as Edison said, “I didn’t come this far, I didn’t travel so many thousands of kilometers, to drop out, so I kept going.”

For a guy with no long distance running experience with a bad knee who just spent months without having ever seen the sunlight?  That’s seriously impressive.  Even for your average weekend marathoner, that’s really impressive nonetheless.  Edison Pena is a really awesome dude, and an incredible success story.

Image: New York Daily News

Tags: New York Marathon, Edison Pena, Chile, miner, Chilean miner runs New York Marathon, New York City, New York, miner runs New York Marathon, Edison Pena finishes New York Marathon, ING New York City Marathon

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