Last updated 18 August 2022
Movies
Saint RalphThis is probably one of my favorite movies of all time, running related or not. It’s a bit of a coming of age story of a boy facing some undue hardships. The story revolves around Ralph’s efforts to improve the health of his very sick mother. As sad as the story of a boy who is seeking a miracle to avoid becoming an orphan seems it should be, the movie manages to still provide some comedy throughout. The running aspect is woven into the story of Ralph attempting to perform a miracle.
McFarland USA
This movie tells the story of how wrong preconceived judgements can be and how valuable a little self examination can be. It’s a story of why and how we make the decisions we do and how those can have lasting impacts on the people that make up the communities we are a part of.
Without Limits
I don’t think any list of great running movies would be complete without a movie that tells the story of the life of the inspirational distance runner Steve Prefontaine. And this movie does it well. It does a great job of showing the more relatable, human Steve Prefontaine rather than presenting the often quoted, seemingly mythological athlete status that “Pre” has obtained amongst runners. If this movie doesn’t make you want to get out and run some hard miles, you may not be a runner.
Run, Fatboy, Run
I’m a fan of running. I’m a fan of comedies. I’m a fan of Shaun of the Dead and the style of comedy that movie did so well. So when I saw the previews for Run, Fatboy, Run I thought I would love this movie. While I still enjoyed this movie, it didn’t check all the boxes I was expecting it to hit. The comedy was less zany and felt more typical. The running aspect of the movie seemed a minor detail in the overall plot that could have been replaced with a host of many other activities.
Documentaries
MONT BLANC | CCC UTMB® 2015 YouTube · Billy YangThis video was one of my earliest introductions to trail running videos on YouTube. I absolutely fell in love with it and have probably watched more than any other running video on YouTube. I still follow the running careers of Zach, David, and Tim five plus years later!
The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young
This was the movie documentary that introduced me to the Barkley Marathons and Lazurus Lake. It provides a great overview and history of the race in addition to an introduction to the creator of what may be the one of the most infamous races in the running world.
Where Dreams Go To Die: Gary Robbins and The Barkley Marathons
Ethan Newberry’s (The Ginger Runner) feature length documentary following the journey of Gary Robbins’ quest to conquer the Barkley Marathons. Over two years of training, sacrifice, and sheer will culminate in Gary's heroic display of giving it all in his attempt to join the elite group of Barkley Marathon finishers.
Unbreakable: The Western States 100 (also on YouTube)
This documentary was filmed (2010) before YouTube running channels were a thing, back when it was more about the running blogs. It tells the story of the 2010 Western States 100 trail race and four of the top runners competing for the win there: Hal Koerner, Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka, and Kilian Jornet. The camera work is subpar by today’s standards, but this film set a high standard for future trail running films to surpass especially with the storytelling aspect of each individual runner.
UltraMarathon Man: 50•50•50
Pretty much all ultrarunners and fans of ultrarunning know of Dean Karnazes. This documentary is the story of his 2006 attempt to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days. Karnazes is sometimes presented as a bit of a mythological ultrarunning hero who has accomplished many excruciatingly difficult feats with little effort. He has been criticized for embellishing and showboating said running feats. Maybe he’s just really good at drawing sponsorships and works hard at it. Maybe there’s some truth to both takes on him. Regardless, this documentary reveals that it’s not always as easy for him as he may claim and shows that he does make a concentrated effort to present his running feats as a bit of a performance for viewer consumption.
Breaking2
This documentary tells the story of the Nike “Breaking2” project. The goal of the project was to have an elite marathon runner complete the marathon distance (26.2 miles) in under 2 hours. The world record at the time was 2:02:57. Using science to optimize all aspects of performance and controlling all conditions humanly possible, the team behind this project were attempting to prove that a sub 2 hour marathon time was humanly possible. While the project received a good deal of flak for the extensively controlled aspects of the project and that it wasn’t a true marathon race, I appreciated it as a proof of concept that would break the mental barrier of elite marathon runners on the verge of breaking that lofty barrier.
Spirit of the Marathon
This 2008 documentary won awards at the Chicago Independent Film Festival and the Mammoth Film Festival. The documentary provides a brief history of the marathon and its significance in the running world. From there on, it tells the story of individual runners preparing for and running the 2005 Chicago Marathon. Elite marathon runners, American Deena Kastor and Kenyan Daniel Njenga, are featured in addition to the stories of four Chicago based runners who all have their own goals and personal motivations for running the race. It’s definitely a film for those looking for motivation to bump their running distance PRs up to the marathon distance and beyond.
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