Reports said that once rescuers made contact with the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground, 34-year-old Edison Pena started to run. Seventeen days after being trapped more than two empire state buildings underground, he cut off the top half of his mining boots, strapped on a miner's light, and ran through a half-mile of dank, dark subterranean corridors in 90 degree heat. "I was running to show that I wasn't just waiting around," he said. "I was running to be an active participant in my own salvation. I wasn't just waiting around. I was running because I was also contributing to the struggle for our rescue," Pena told ESPN. "I also wanted God to see that I really wanted to live."

The group dynamics and collective will of the 33 miners helped a lot, but Pena also had his own way to deal. He ran three to six miles every day. Later, rescuers sent down running shoes and an iPod stocked only with Elvis Presley tunes for Pena. He ran until the 69th day, when he emerged in front of the world as the 12th miner rescued. Soon after, he received an invite to the New York City marathon. He accepted and finished in 5 hours, 40 minutes, and 51 seconds. He ran in the shadows of skyscrapers jutting against the sky, between sunlight enfilading across city streets, and crossed the finish line despite intense knee pain while Elvis Presley belted out of the nearby PA system, "The Wonder of You."
Long Form: Way Down in the Hole, GQ