Chicago will be one of several marathons Mynor is running this year. He just finished Grandma’s Marathon in under 4 hours, especially impressive because he was accompanying a legally blind athlete for the race. He is also running the Marine Corps and New York City Marathons to round out 2014.
Mynor’s uncle was a Costa Rican national champion and he grew up surrounded by trophies and medals. But for Mynor running didn’t really click until he moved to the US and serious illness had put his uncle temporarily in a wheelchair. He dedicated his first Half Marathon to his uncle and his father, and that medal is now in Costa Rica displayed with his uncle’s collection. His first race was a 10k in Washington DC that he still runs every year because the running year “doesn’t feel complete without it”.
His first Marathon was the Marine Corps Marathon in 2012, but he saw the race for the first time the year before. He went with his boss to cheer on a colleague, who was already an accomplished marathoner and had run MCM several times. His coworker had come back from a stroke to run the race and while they tried several times to find him on the cousre it wasn’t until mile 20 that they finally saw him in front of the Holocaust Museum. Mynor says he’ll never forget the look on his friend’s face, how he embraced them and said it was the push he needed to continue. He walked in the street with him for almost 2 miles, mostly in silence, watching the other marathoners. He loved running, but until that day had never thought of running a marathon. He said it was one of the most emotional moments of his life and after that day he promised himself MCM would be his first marathon.
Mynor was born in Costa Rica and came to the US 19 years ago, leaving a job at the Costa Rican “White House” to become a Branch Relations Manager for an International Organization. He lives in Silver Spring, MD with his dog Rocco, who has slowed down a little too much to be a running buddy, but still loves his walks. He currently works for a policy organization in the nuclear energy field doing membership relations and conference support services. He loves traveling and has visited Australia, Hong Kong, Russia, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Germany, and many others. He is learning Italian and would some day also like to regain French. He has published poetry under a pseudonym in Spanish and he says his “not so proud” moment is a now well hidden modeling career while he still lived in Costa Rica.
We are so excited to have Mynor’s energy on our 2014 team. If you would like to donate to Mynor please visit: http://makeyeshappen.com/Athlete/Story/2913#.U6thP5SwLRU