Mirna Valerio – Running Ultramarathons and Being a Beautiful Work in Progress

Mirna’s Wild Idea: To run ultra-marathons and advocate for body positivity, showing others fitness comes in many sizes.

You may have seen Mirna Valerio, “The Mirnavator.” Her video with REI had millions of views on Facebook. It starts with her reading an angry letter from a guy who wrote to her while she was doing a 50k run. He called her a “fraud,” a “liar,” and said she is not only faking running ultra-marathons, but she’s making a bad name for runners because she is overweight and doesn’t “look like a runner.”

Well, Mirna can not only run, but she’s a true force of nature. She’s also a teacher, coach, diversity leader, trained opera singer, mom, wife, and recently added author and brand ambassador to her resume. A few years ago, when Mirna started doing longer runs, she started the site called Fat Girl Running. There weren’t a lot of people who looked like her on the trail, and she wanted to get more people outside running. 

Her story was featured in the Wall Street Journal in 2015, and then was picked up by Runner’s World, NBC Nightly, CNN, and REI. She has now added a few more titles to her resume: brand ambassador, author of her new book, A Beautiful Work in Progress, and my own addition, total badass!

Listening to Mirna talk is inspiring. She has an incredible outlook on the world, she laughs easily, and she isn’t afraid to go deep. We talked about diving into the uncomfortable, dealing with haters, how to create opportunities for yourself, and how you can be a runner no matter what your size, shape, or background.

Presented by REI

Listen to this episode if: 

• You want to start running.
• You are self-conscious about your body or fitness level.
• You need a dose of positivity. 
• You want to break out of your comfort zone.
• You hate when people tell you that you can’t do something.

For full show notes, including guest links and books mentioned during the episode, visit: http://wildideasworthliving.com/59