Chilean miner Edison Peña ran up to six miles a day in tunnels while trapped a half-mile underground for 69 days with 32 other miners.
Sunday, he will be a special guest at the New York City Marathon. And he may even run in the race.
Peña, 34, the 12th miner rescued Oct. 13, earned the nickname “The Runner,” which drew the attention of race director and New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg.
“We watched with fascination and excitement when the miners came up,” NYRR spokesman Richard Finn said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News Service. “Mary said: ‘That is what the essence of the marathon is — perseverance and determination. We should see if we can reach out to him and extend an invite.’ ”
The NYRR contacted Peña through the Chilean Consulate on Oct. 14, and Peña responded almost immediately. They thought he could ride in the lead vehicle or hold the finish-line tape, but never expected the consulate to tell them Peña wanted to run.
