Edison Peña could be forgiven for having to slow to a walk at times during the New York City Marathon on Sunday. His training, after all, came via subterranean loops of only a few miles at a time, with the tunnels of a collapsed gold and copper mine for a course and sawed-off work boots for footwear.

But after fighting through knee pain to jog across the finish line in under six hours, Peña wanted to clear something up.

“First of all, I want to say that I would have run faster,” he said. “And I did run faster in the mine.”



Peña hardly needed to apologize. Three and a half weeks after being freed from the mine in Chile where he was trapped for 69 days, and with no significant distance-running experience, Peña captivated spectators at the marathon in a way few have in the 41 years the race has been run.

He jogged triumphantly across the finish line in Central Park in 5 hours 40 minutes 51 seconds, topping his own six-hour goal and stealing the show from the professionals. The race director, Mary Wittenberg, choked back tears when introducing Peña to reporters after the race.

“I think we’ve just seen the best story in running I think I’ve ever seen,” she said.

It is a story that has already become the stuff of marathon legend — and that was before Peña even laced up his sneakers.

During his confinement in the mine alongside 32 other miners, Peña took to jogging in its tunnels — looping three to six miles per day more than 2,000 feet underground. After he was rescued last month, marathon officials immediately invited him to attend the race as a guest.

Wittenberg said she expected Peña to sit in a warm tent and soak in his newfound celebrity. Peña had other plans: He wanted to run.

When he arrived at Kennedy Airport on Thursday, Peña was greeted by some of the legends of the sport and then proceeded to charm the news media at a surreal press conference where, among other things, he crooned an Elvis tune to demonstrate his affection for the musical artist. Then he was ushered on a whirlwind tour of the city, visiting the Empire State Building, making an appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

By Sunday morning, his celebrity almost seemed to have eclipsed the race itself, earning him a special introduction from Wittenberg before the race. The New York Road Runners set him up with two escorts: Juan Jesus Lopez, 34, of the Bronx, and Rene Cuahuizo, 27, of Elmhurst, who were charged with making sure other participants — seeking a brush with celebrity, or at least the chance to be captured on television with one — did not crowd him too much.

Crowd him they did. Many runners went so far as to whip out cameras midrace and snap pictures of Peña as he jogged along. Meanwhile, for many spectators along the course, Peña was the No. 1 subject of conversation.

For Chileans in attendance, it might as well have been a national holiday.

One of them, Claudia Lillo, traveled hours from Dutchess County with her mother, sister and niece merely in the hope of catching a glimpse of Peña. They camped out on the northeast corner of Central Park with a Chilean flag and a sign that read, “Run, Edison, Run.”

“Not only is he from Chile, but he’s an inspiration for everyone here,” Lillo said.

Peña jogged by a few minutes later — despite never having run anything approaching a marathon before. He told reporters on Thursday that he hoped to finish the marathon in six hours.

Marathon officials said they were encouraging a “walking and running approach,” as Wittenberg put it.

Peña chose to take a running approach.

Wearing sunglasses, a navy blue cap and a brace on his left knee, Peña made it across the half-marathon mark in 2:07:34, well ahead of the goal he set for himself.

But while running up First Avenue in Manhattan, he began to favor his left knee. Peña eventually slowed to a walk and ducked into a medical tent between Miles 19 and 20 to get ice packs for his knees.

He said later that the knee pain, which he said he has long battled, almost made him withdraw from the race. “But I said to myself, I didn’t come this far, I didn’t travel so many thousands of kilometers, to drop out,” Peña said. “So I kept going.”

Peña started to jog again after passing through Columbus Circle and heading toward the finish line in Central Park, clutching a Chilean flag as fans roared. Photographers swarmed him as he crossed the finish line; Peña immediately clutched his knees, the crowd cheering wildly and Wittenberg ready with a medal.

He immediately said that he would have been able to finish the race faster if not for his bothersome knees, a point he reiterated when speaking to reporters later. Through an interpreter, Peña said he was taken aback by all the signs and cheers he received along the course, saying all the support helped him get past his knee pain.

“I could have just been a special guest, but I wanted to take up the challenge of running, and perhaps that was a mistake,” Peña said. “But I wanted to show that I could do it.”

Asked by a reporter to sing another Elvis tune, Peña dutifully complied, offering a few lines of “Don’t Be Cruel.” And in perhaps the best news of all for those whom he delighted so much on Sunday, Peña said this would not be his last marathon.

“I know I can improve my time,” he said.