‘Fat’ runner sets pace for self-acceptance
Humankind: Ga. woman proves health, fitness comes in all shapes and sizes
RABUN COUNTY, Ga. – Mirna Valerio knows she’s not society’s stereotypical definition of “fit” or “runner,” and she doesn’t care.
Her website is called Fat Girl Running, and it’s built on self-love and body positivity.
“The word ‘fat’ is a descriptor that’s also a noun,” Valerio says. “I do have fat on my body, and I am a larger woman. I’m fat or plus-sized.”
She’s so much more than a stereotype. She is a mother, a teacher, a singer, an author, an ultra-runner ... and the list goes on.
“I’m used to kind of being an anomaly,” she says.
An ultra-runner is someone who runs marathons longer than the standard 26.2 miles. Ultra-marathons are usually 50 to 100 miles.
Valerio has completed several marathons, ultra-marathons and obstacle races. She has even tackled the 120mile Trans Rockies course.
“I really, really love doing longdistance,” she says. “I love being outside by myself in my own head for a long time.”
Valerio’s journey to long-distance running hasn’t always been easy. In 2008, she had a health scare. “I thought I was having a heart attack, and it ended up not being a heart attack but a panic attack,” Valerio says. “When I followed up with the cardiologist and he told me that I had to change my lifestyle in order to get better, I took it really seriously, because I wanted to make sure that I was here for myself ... and my family.”
It was at that moment Valerio knew she had to get back into the sport she loves: running.
“It was really awful that first mile back on the treadmill,” she says.
For Valerio, it was hard physically, but it took a toll on her emotions, as well.
“It’s really hard to go out running when you are afraid of people saying things to you or yelling things out of a car or giving you a dirty look.”
That’s when Fat Girl Running was born.
Instead of letting the negativity get to her, Valerio channeled it into a successful book, A Beautiful Work in Progress, and an inspirational Instagram page.
Valerio wants everyone to know that the path to self-love doesn’t have to be traveled by running.
“The only thing that you owe anybody, and that person is yourself, is to get out there and start running or walking or doing whatever you want,” she says. “It’s up to you to create your own fitness narrative.”
Valerio is proving that being fit and healthy comes in all shapes and sizes and that the most important thing is self-acceptance.
“Try something that you’ve always wanted to try but you’ve been afraid of, or maybe sometimes people have told you you can’t do it, or maybe you’ve told yourself you can’t do it,” she says. “But try it anyway.”