Yankee Magazine May/June 2021

Page 96

CONVERSATIONS 94 |

YK0521_FEA_Conversation_Mirna.indd 94

MIRNA VALERIO

BLAZING A TRAIL FOR ALL TO FOLLOW INTERVIEW BY IAN ALDRICH

In her 2017 memoir, A Beautiful Work in Progress, Mirna Valerio circles back in varying degrees to two important questions: Why not celebrate your body? And why not be proud of the fact that the one you are in can do great things? A 2008 health scare put Valerio on a path toward discovering her own potential. She was working overtime as an educator and a mother when a severe panic attack forced her to confront how she’d allowed her well-being to spiral downward. Her doctor asked her: “Do you want to see your son grow up?” So Valerio started running. A little. Then a little more. A few months in, she completed her first 5K. Bigger races followed. In the fall of 2011 she ran her first marathon. Two years later, she completed her first 50K. To date, she’s finished 11 marathons and 14 ultras, which have included some of the most grueling trail races in the country. I L L US T R AT I O N B Y C H R I S T I A N B L A Z A

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