Mirna Valerio

What do you see when you close your eyes and think of a typical trail runner? Although trail running seems to be the domain of thin, fast people, it is also a sport that has welcomed people like Mirna Valerio, who in her own words is a plus-sized, slow-AF runner who lives and breathes the trail. This African-American adventurer, hailing (presently) from Winooski, Vermont, defies trail running stereotypes and has a great time doing it!

“This body is fierce, beautiful, and unapologetic. It’s meant to move through the world as it wishes: lifting, walking, and running, rolls and all. Love handles, bouncy boobs, curves, tummy, butt, back fat, and all.” -Mirna 

Author of the blog Fatgirlrunning and best selling novel ‘A Beautiful Work in Progress’, Mirna shares her experiences as a larger woman in a world of thinner athletes. Mirna’s story has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Runner’s World, on the NBC Nightly News, CNN, on the CW Network, and in REI’s documentary, The Mirnavator.

Her writing has been featured in Women’s Running Magazine, Self Magazine Online, Outside Online, and Runner’s World Magazine. She was chosen as a 2018 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.