It is, quite simply, the classic plot of every fish-out-of-water film, hitting all of the cliches along the way with the enthusiasm of a 1980s comedy: the unlikely outsider arrives in New York, after some initial translation difficulties the city falls gleefully in love with this eccentric newcomer, he then accomplishes some incredible feat, the city cheers, cue end credits, over a rendition of – in this particular case – Elvis.
Ever since Edison Pena, one of the 33 miners who had been trapped underground in Chile for 69 days, arrived in New York on Thursday on his first trip abroad to run the New York Marathon – which he ran today – this Crocodile Dundee with a pickaxe has been on the kind of high-profile media tour that would make Paris Hilton envious.
He appeared on The David Letterman Show, did the breakfast TV rounds, gave newspaper interviews, hosted packed press conferences and – truly confirming that Chilean miners are this year’s A-list celebrities – has been pursued through the city by that most tabloid of gossip websites, tmz.com, which more often devotes its time to ascertaining what that white blotch in Lindsay Lohan’s nose might be as she leaves an LA nightclub than the antics of a cheerful 34-year-old miner.
Rather than shielding his face, or throwing coffee, as is the usual interaction between celebrities and tmz.com paps, Pena made a good-hearted giggle at the journalist’s attempts to speak Spanish. Even tmz.com was charmed: “Chilean Miner – Blinded by Terrible Spanish”, was the website's uncharacteristically good natured headline.
Full story: Chilean miner’s latest amazing feat … the New York marathon | World news | The Guardian