When Mirna first started running, she wasn’t very good at it. The body she has isn’t most people’s image of a “runner’s body”.
“It's a fat body. It's definitely a fat body,” Mirna said. “And I have no trouble using that word. And I know that it makes people uncomfortable which is why I have no trouble using it because I want people to think about the words that they use and about the intention behind their words.”
What Mirna does have is a runner’s mind. She has the drive to train almost every day and to keep moving for hours on end to finish ultramarathons. She has a deep love of nature and of being out on trails. Mirna wants to show that no matter what your body looks like, if you’ve got the will to run, you are a runner.

Rickey Gates: Every Single Street

We’re going deeper than ever before and exploring what it means to be an athlete. Our guests range from pro cyclist Laurens ten Dam, who speaks about his struggles in the pro peloton and the time when his career almost ended, to Mirna Valerio, author of the blog “Fat Girl Running” who is trying to change people’s perceptions about what it means to be fit. We’ll speak with Ricky Gates about what he found when he was running every single street in San Francisco – all 1,300 miles of them. And we’ll hear from Brian Williams about what it was like to run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa with his son Tom after he had been exiled from his home country for 15 years for protesting apartheid. These are just a handful of the guests featured on Athletes Unfiltered – subscribe now so you don’t miss any of our second season!