NEW YORK – A Chilean miner ……………..…… (run) and ……………………… (walk) his way to the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, showing the passion that ………………………..(help) him survive more than two months trapped underground.
Edison Pena ………………………(cross) the Central Park finish line at 3:24 p.m., with a time of 5 hours, 40 minutes, 51 seconds. He was draped in a Chilean flag as Elvis music .............................. (play) over the speakers.
The 34-year-old survivor ……………………………….(beat) his own goal — to complete the course through the city's five boroughs in six hours.
Bags of ice …………………………(cover) his swollen knees as Pena …………………………… (walk) the second half of the marathon, but he ………………………….(summon) enough energy to run the last stretch along Central Park West.
"In this marathon I ………………………….(struggle) with myself and with my own pain," he said " but I ……………………………….. (make) it to the finish line. I ………………………………………… (want) to motivate other people to also find the courage and strength to transcend their own pain."
Pena's personal victory ………………………………… (come) just weeks after he was still training in near-darkness, jogging each day 2,300 feet underground in heat and humidity.
He …………………………… (say) running was his salvation — his way of proving how much he .................................................... (want) to live.
On this sunny day in Manhattan, it …………………………………….. (not matter) to the world whether No. 7127 actually ………………………………………… (finish) the race running into Central Park. To the cheering crowds, he ……………………...... (be) already a winner among the 45,000 runners, including some of the world's best marathoners.
At a post-marathon news conference, reporters ……………………………………… (ask) Pena to compare his hours in the New York race with the days in the mines
"In the mine, I ……………………….. (run) alone," he said. He …………………………….. (call) the marathon "an incredible dream" — because of "how warm and welcoming and supportive the Americans are here," with signs along the route reading "Go, Edison!" and "Go for it!"
Pena said he also …………………….. (be) "motivated" by Chileans shouting and waving his country's flag.
Pena ………………………………….. (begin) running in Staten Island at 9:40 a.m. The trouble …………………………………. (start) about an hour into the marathon, when he …………………………………………… (slow) a bit, apparently already in pain. But surrounded by supporters , he ……………………………………… (keep) running.
Shortly after noon, "The Runner" …………………………… (make) his way into Queens, reaching the 14-mile mark of the race. Suddenly, he ………………………………………. (leave) the course, going into a medical tent for help. He ……………………………. (emerge) around 1 p.m., bags of ice tied to both his knees.
He …………………………………….. (say) later he ………………………………………… (have) a bad left knee even before the mine cave-in, which …………………………………. (worsen) it. But he …………………………… (run) anyway.
"I …………………………….. (want) to show that I …………………………… (can) do it," Pena said
NYC Marathon officials ………………………………….. (hear) about Pena's subterranean training and ………………………………………….. (plan) to invite him as an honored guest. But he ………………. (want) to actually run the race.
The miner ……………………………………… (cut) his electrician's boots down to ankle height to train each morning and afternoon along the rocky, muddy 1,000-yard corridor where the men ……………………. (be) trapped. He ………………………….. (build) up strength by dragging a large piece of wood that was attached to a cord tied to his waist.
At the news conference in Manhattan's Mandarin Oriental hotel, a very happy and tired Pena at first …………………………………….. (decline) to sing some Elvis music, but eventually …………………………………. (give in) and ……………………………. (sing) "Don't Be Cruel."
He now ……………………………………… (have) his eyes on the next prize — another marathon to "improve my time. ... I know that's a possibility."
adapted from
Yahoo News
