Less than a month after surviving 69 days stuck in a Chilean mine, Edison Pena pulled off another feat of endurance Sunday, completing the ING New York City Marathon in five hours, 40 minutes and 51 seconds.
Wearing a black brace on his left knee and bib No. 7-127 and flanked by two yellow-shirted volunteers, the so-called Running Miner was bathed in cheers from the estimated 2.5 million spectators from beginning to end.
The 34-year-old ran the first half of the race in two hours and seven minutes, until knee pain and exhaustion forced him to walk for some 10 miles. He slapped on two ice packs at a first-aid station and got treated for cramps at a medical tent in the 18th mile, but he kept on going, making good on his vow to complete the tortuous, five-borough 26.2-mile test.
"I came to the U.S. to run this marathon, and I did it," the 5-foot-5, 145-pound Pena said. "I struggled with my myself. I struggled with my own pain, but I made it to the finish line."
Pena even managed to speed up to a trot as he approached the finish, as his escorts held aloft the flag of Chile behind him and "The Wonder of You" by Elvis Presley - his favorite artist - blared out of the speakers.
Pena ran up to six miles a day in the collapsed mine, often lugging a heavy pallet behind him to increase the challenge. He said he did it to beat the mine, to prove to God how much he wanted to live. Three days after taking the first airplane flight of his life to get here, Pena proved the strength of his will all over again.
"Running a marathon and being trapped in a mine are two very different experiences," Pena said. "I felt great in the marathon . . . felt great with all the support I was getting. In the mine, I ran alone."
He said he contemplated stopping at Mile 18, when the knee pain was at its worst, but he pushed on.
"He has the heart of a champion," said Juan Jesus Lopez, 34, a cook from the Bronx who was one of Pena's escorts.
The New York Road Runners invited Pena to the race as a VIP, but Pena insisted he wanted to be on the starting line. More than a few people doubted the wisdom of taking on the marathon without proper training.
"He trained like Rocky trained to beat the Russian. Like a boxer," said Dr. Lewis Maharam, the former medical director of the marathon who now holds the same title for the Rock 'N Roll Marathons. "His knees were not prepared to go the distance."
But Pena did, indeed, go the distance. Who knows how much faster he might've gone if he hadn't waved to the crowd a few thousand times, and if others runners hadn't come by to shake his hand and offer him encouragement?
Pena did a rendition of Elvis' "Return to Sender" earlier in the week, and signed off yesterday's press conference with a verse of "Don't Be Cruel," complete with swiveling hips.
Pena said he ran to motivate people, "to convince them that they can do what they set out to do in life."
The mission was accomplished, according to Mary Wittenberg, the marathon's race director, and the person who invited Pena to New York.
"There's ordinary. And there's extraordinary," Wittenberg said. "And this is an extraordinary story."
wow this is amazing! it's incredible how someone can be so determined and accomplish so much. He's a great role model.
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