Mirna Valerio

Mirna Valerio is a native of Brooklyn, NY, a former educator and cross-country-cycling coach, an ultramarathoner, a cyclist and skier, a DEI facilitator, and the author of the bestselling memoir "A Beautiful Work in Progress." She began running in high school, recommitted to the sport after a health scare in 2008, and started her blog, Fatgirlrunning — about her experiences as a plus-size woman in a world of thinner endurance athletes — while training for her first marathon. Mirna's athletic story has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Runner's World, and the viral documentary short "REI Presents The Mirnavator," as well as on NBC Nightly News and CNN. Her writing has been featured in Women's Running, Women's Health, Self, Outside, and Runner's World. Mirna is a 2018 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and in 2019, she was featured on "GMA." Since then, she has appeared on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," "Access Daily," and "The Today Show." Her partners include L.L.Bean, Ford Bronco, Lululemon, Salsa Cycles, Darn Tough Vermont, Hydro Flask, and Garmin. She currently lives and trains in Vermont and is wholeheartedly enamored and obsessed with downhill skiing.