Trapped Chilean Miner Cheated Death

Edison Pena says he’s “more human now”.

The story goes that he ran between 3 and 6 miles per day while trapped underground for 69 days in a collapsed mine in Chile. Aside from keeping him fit while rescuers tried to free him and the 32 others stuck in the San Jose mine, 34-year old Edison Pena says it was running that saved his life.

“It’s really hard to come back from death, it’s very hard,” Pena told the BBC. “Now I just want to live, I want to live. ”

Pena, who has received invitations to run the ING New York City Marathon next month and Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon in December, said he ran to test himself physically in an effort to beat the mental challenge of entrapment. He often dragged wooden crates behind him to improve his stamina.

“I think these photographs are really a life testimony, and I want everybody to understand it,” Pena said in his interview. “It’s not to show off, I’m not looking to get famous by running. I think that running on the surface again…and seeing the beach. I think nothing compares to this.”

For More: BBC