Mirna Valerio is a native of Brooklyn, NY, a former educator and cross-country coach, ultramarathoner, cyclist and newish skier, DEI practitioner, and author of the 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 larger 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, on NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in the viral documentary short, REI Presents The Mirnavator. Her writing has been featured in Women’s Running, Self, Outside, and Runner’s World. In 2018 she was chosen as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and in early 2020 appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show and Access Daily, and was featured on the Today Show. Mirna was also included as part of Will Smith’s training team for his first half-marathon! Her partners include LLBean, lululemon, Salsa Cycles, Darn Tough Vermont, and Garmin. She currently lives and trains in Winooski, Vermont and is wholeheartedly enamored and obsessed with downhill skiing.

Author of the 2017 bestselling memoir, A Beautiful Work in Progress, Mirna Valerio is a 2018 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, ultrarunner, cyclist, and skier who believes that everyone deserves to have not just a good time outside, but an excellent time, and in turn has the responsibility and honor of stewarding all of that goodness. When she is not traveling the world speaking and recreating, she lives and trains in Vermont with her son who she allows to come home from college sometimes!