Chilean miner runs Tokyo Marathon

Chilean miner Edison Pena reacts after completing the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. Pena, one of the survivors of last year's Chilean mine accident, was one of more than 35,000 runners who took part in the fifth running of the marathon. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool/Associated Press)

Chilean miner runs Tokyo Marathon

Chilean miner Edison Pena finished the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, shaving more than 30 minutes off the time he set in New York in his second such race since he was among the 33 men rescued in October.

The 35-year-old Pena had been training more than 10 kilometres a day and it showed, as he finished the race through the streets of downtown Tokyo in five hours eight minutes 19 seconds. In the New York City Marathon, he ran and walked on bad knees to finish in five hours 40 minutes on Nov. 7.

"It was not like the New York Marathon," Pena said. "I didn't walk, I ran the entire time."

Pena jogged through tunnels while trapped underground, and word of his dedication inspired NYC Marathon organizers to invite him to watch the race. Instead, he asked to run it.

Pena said there may be more marathons in his future.

"It's just a big challenge for me," Pena said. "It's an incredible thing to do and it's just amazing to be able to do something like this for a second time. I felt very good about my result today."

Executives from Remo System, a Japanese maker of shoe inserts and other training products, were in New York for the marathon and were moved to invite him to Tokyo. They worked with Fuji TV to get him into Sunday's race.

Remo plans to donate 2,000 pairs of shoes to needy Chileans in his honour.