Films/Documentaries about Running

nellocono

There is a good thread around here somewhere about some of the best books on running. I don't always have the time or patience for reading so would like to hear all your thoughts on what are some good films/documentaries based on running...

Some that I have seen so far:

Spirit of the Marathon - documentary following a variety of athletes (elite and not so elite) in the quest to complete the Chicago marathon. Not a bad watch to get you inspired to run a marathon

Without Limits - Film based on the life and trials of Steve Prefontaine who is hailed as one of the greatest ever. Quite enjoyable!

Marathon Man 50 states, 50 days - Dean Karnassis - OK

Running the Sahara - 3 blokes who decide to run across the Sahara desert - Worth a watch was a bit scripted though I think

Run Fat boy Run -

rovers_runner

Run for your life: Fred Lebow story
http://www.fredlebowmovie.com/

Toughest race on earth with James Cracknell
http://www.discoveryuk.com/web/toughest-race-on-earth-with-james-cracknell/

nerraw1111

nellocono wrote: »

Running the Sahara - 3 blokes who decide to run across the Sahara desert - Worth a watch was a bit scripted though I think

The last 15 minutes of that is unreal in terms of "Wait, he's not really trying to do that...is he?"

I haven't seen these but Unbreakable is supposed to be brilliant. It’s about the 2011 Western States 100.
http://www.ws100film.com/

A Fine Line – about Killian Jornet is also supposed to be good, getting decent reviews. http://www.summitsofmylife.com/en/

rom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF3EA3Ygy2U endurance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ6jwXIVjgo running on the sun

tunguska

This is the kind of film that makes grown men cry........Great film.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salute-DVD-Peter-Norman/dp/B007RO8WWA/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1357146996&sr=1-1

woodchopper

tunguska wrote: »

This is the kind of film that makes grown men cry........Great film.

I nearly cried when I seen you wearing that silly hat yesterday!

tunguska

woodchopper wrote: »

I nearly cried when I seen you wearing that silly hat yesterday!

I dunno woodie the girls kind of like the hat. Maybe I'll get you one, cant guarantee you'll look as good as me in it though.

RacoonQueen

Town of runners, endurance, the athlete, running in the sahara(maybe a bit too American), defining moment.

G-Money

Running to the Limits. About a guy called Alex Vero who goes from 16 stone to trying to qualify for the Olympic marathon team.

Although he doesn't look that heavy even at 16 stone!

Outside

I really enjoyed "Running Madness", you be able to watch it for free here: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/3652/Running-Madness-

More focused on the long distance stuff, a lot of interviews/footage from the Western States 100. Some interesting characters in it!

woodchopper

tunguska wrote: »

I dunno woodie the girls kind of like the hat. Maybe I'll get you one, cant guarantee you'll look as good as me in it though.

Your right I doubt I would look as good as you in a hat but back in my day I was more concerned with running fast than looking good. Whatever floats your boat I suppose

ultrapercy

Defining Moment is a very good insight into ultra running and the famous Sparthatlon in particular. Even tho Sparthatlon not something I thought I would be interested in, since I watched the film its been nagging at me.Very inspiring film no mater what distance you run. Also watched one of those 30 for 30 docu films about Terry Fox which was very good.

nerraw1111

Outside wrote: »

I really enjoyed "Running Madness", you be able to watch it for free here: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/3652/Running-Madness-

More focused on the long distance stuff, a lot of interviews/footage from the Western States 100. Some interesting characters in it!

Watched that the other night. It's very good.

PaulieC

That Killian jornet film is available for download from the website above for 6.99 EUR, which is a great deal, considering it's 19.99 for the DVD.
Unbreakable download is the same price as the DVD i.e. $29.99.

I've downloaded the Killian film (2GB, approx. 53 mins running time) and the quality looks to be just slightly less than full HD @ 960 x 1920.

snowman224

G-Money wrote: »

Running to the Limits. About a guy called Alex Vero who goes from 16 stone to trying to qualify for the Olympic marathon team.

Although he doesn't look that heavy even at 16 stone!

For anyone that's interested..

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/documentaries/running-to-the-limits-part-1/7923.html

nerraw1111

cambo_gueno wrote: »

That Killian jornet film is available for download from the website above for 6.99 EUR, which is a great deal, considering it's 19.99 for the DVD.
Unbreakable download is the same price as the DVD i.e. $29.99.

I've downloaded the Killian film (2GB, approx. 53 mins running time) and the quality looks to be just slightly less than full HD @ 960 x 1920.

Unbreakable is taking it's time uploading their HD video. Can't understand the delay. No point downloading the SD version if the HD is going to be released a day later or so.

ecoli

Looks like there could be a new one on the scene soon though I dunno how much it will delve into the running aspect;

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/angelina-jolie-direct-wwii-film-unbroken-universal-192333993.html

PaulieC

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Unbreakable is taking it's time uploading their HD video. Can't understand the delay. No point downloading the SD version if the HD is going to be released a day later or so.

The HD downloads have been sitting on 0 stock for a couple of months now. SD version is still the same price though. I might just order the DVD though. At that price I prefer to have something physical

rom

snowman224 wrote: »

For anyone that's interested..

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/documentaries/running-to-the-limits-part-1/7923.html

Really enjoyed this. Nice to see what a positive mental attitude will do and how he used the negative feedback to drive him on even harder and thanking them

PaulieC

Just watched Summits of My Life by Killian Jornet. It covers him doing two traverses of Mont Blanc, one east to west with skis with an extreme skier and the other, a south to north by himself, running. There were lots of arty, shallow focus shots of course and loads of amazing vistas of the Alps. He seems a very humble individual who lives a simple life. Needless to say he's an animal on the hills...

spurious

The John Akii Bua Story

overpronator

Youtube vid about a raw vegan fruitarian who did the 153 mile spartathlon in Greece recently. He had a DNF in 2011 but came back this year. Entertaining video, seems like a nice lad. He also has a load of other race videos from his various ultras over the years, worth a watch.

nerraw1111

Unbreakable in HD is finally up. It's a decent film. Was expecting a bit more race footage but the narrative is done well.

"In the High Country" trailer. About Tony Krupika.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW8ChGMLYhQ

rom

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Unbreakable in HD is finally up. It's a decent film. Was expecting a bit more race footage but the narrative is done well.

"In the High Country" trailer. About Tony Krupika.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW8ChGMLYhQ

have you a link to the full movie ?

ChickenBalls

snowman224 wrote: »

For anyone that's interested..

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/documentaries/running-to-the-limits-part-1/7923.html

It seems to jump to Part 3 for some reason - does it work for anyone else?

rom

ChickenBalls wrote: »

It seems to jump to Part 3 for some reason - does it work for anyone else?

yes its a problem. you need to skip through the parts to find the other parts like I could only get part 4 from going to part 2 or something like that. All the parts are there.

rom

All basic stuff but I like this video series as he explains basic concepts well.

http://www.youtube.com/user/intelligentrunning?feature=watch

nerraw1111

I Run Far has done a list of films this week, mostly Ultra.

http://www.irunfar.com/2013/02/ultrarunning-films.html

rom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/mar/01/ten-best-running-documentaries

Cabaal

Watched Unbreakable : The Western States 100, the other night, I liked it, insane bunch of people

Fianna Fowl

ESPN 30 for 30 on the legend of a human being that was Terry Fox

One_More_Mile

Cabaal wrote: »

Watched Unbreakable : The Western States 100, the other night, I liked it, insane bunch of people

I wonder where did you see it from- netflix? No sure I want to pay the massive price being asked from totalfilm.

Cabaal

One_More_Mile wrote: »

I wonder where did you see it from- netflix? No sure I want to pay the massive price being asked from totalfilm.

I paid for the download SD version of the film from the journey films website. Cost 22e.... Cheaper then dvd for 35e.

Doubt it's on netflix and the like

vigos

Think it was posted elsewhere on this forum or on boards.ie but here is a documentary on John Lenihan the Kerry mountain runner


Part 1

http://vimeo.com/15070035

Part 2

http://vimeo.com/15280983

Part 3

http://vimeo.com/15574459

Ruu

http://www.runningamerica08.com

Running America was OK. Marshall Ulrich and Charlie Engle try and break the record running from San Francisco to New York. Read about all the tension between the teams during the trip after watching, not shown of course.

TFBubendorfer

Ruubot2 wrote: »

http://www.runningamerica08.com

Running America was OK. Marshall Ulrich and Charlie Engle try and break the record running from San Francisco to New York. Read about all the tension between the teams during the trip after watching, not shown of course.

Yes, Marshall Ulrich has told a few "interesting" stories in his book. If the anecdotes are true then Charlie Engle isn't someone I would ever want to meet - though that's only one side of the story, of course!

Combo.

I'm delighted with this thread. I LOVE running documentaries so pls keep them coming

nerraw1111

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Yes, Marshall Ulrich has told a few "interesting" stories in his book. If the anecdotes are true then Charlie Engle isn't someone I would ever want to meet - though that's only one side of the story, of course!

Mr Engle spent a bit of time in prison as a direct result of Running the Sahara and perhaps the way he behaved in some of those documentaries.

The actual crime is a bit of a grey area, the New York Times had a very sympathetic piece about his conviction, arguing it may not have been a crime at all. Something to with mortgages and loans.

However, the reason why he got ‘caught’ was after a special agent for the US internal revenue saw one of the films and wondered how someone could afford to train and run in an event like that. So they pretty much carried out an audit on him and found stuff they didn’t like.

You would wonder if he came across a bit better in the film, if the taxman would’ve bothered his arse.

Great read. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/26nocera.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

TFBubendorfer

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Mr Engle spent a bit of time in prison as a direct result of Running the Sahara and perhaps the way he behaved in some of those documentaries.

The actual crime is a bit of a grey area, the New York Times had a very sympathetic piece about his conviction, arguing it may not have been a crime at all. Something to with mortgages and loans.

However, the reason why he got ‘caught’ was after a special agent for the US internal revenue saw one of the films and wondered how someone could afford to train and run in an event like that. So they pretty much carried out an audit on him and found stuff they didn’t like.

You would wonder if he came across a bit better in the film, if the taxman would’ve bothered his arse.

Great read. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/26nocera.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Yes, I am aware of all that, though Charlie Engle claims that the Sahara trip was financed by the film production company and his only crime was exaggerating his income for a self-certified mortgage.

I always thought he came across like a complete w*****r in the Sahara film (which I saw a couple of years ago, well before reading Ulrich's book and before his conviction), which is why I tend to believe the stories in the book.

b.harte

I finally managed to watch "Unbreakable" and "Running Madness", as well as another short documentary called "Run Pharm Boy, Run".
It was weird but what struck me in all of them was that those involved seemed very happy, at peace, relaxed with themselves.
No one seemed overly bothered about real world stuff like jobs, money, etc.
Especially in Unbreakable, the "Elites" seemed to really enjoy what they do, as if it was a whole-life thing, not just an exercise thing, and yes, I imagine that sponsorship possibly takes the edge off real world stuff.
Those that had "proper" jobs / studies still had some form of connection to their environment, and as such their running.
I was actually surprised how good Unbreakable is, the backdrop looks amazing and even the back stories were worth watching for.
It was also great seeing the different types of people involved, and how no one seemed to be fighting the landscape, everything looked fluid and graceful.
Highly recommend viewing it.

robbicosta

b.harte wrote: »

I was actually surprised how good Unbreakable is, the backdrop looks amazing and even the back stories were worth watching for.
It was also great seeing the different types of people involved, and how no one seemed to be fighting the landscape, everything looked fluid and graceful.
Highly recommend viewing it.

I saw Unbreakable two years ago when it came out. My mate organised a cinema screening for a group of us trail runner types in Sydney. It's probably the best running movie out there and it inspired me to apply for WSER that year. I missed out on the lottery but applied again for this year. Despite being a 7/1 shot to get in, I won a place and now we're off to California in June. This race has been on my bucket list and I cannot wait to do it. It'll only have about 380 runners and all the best ultra runners from around the world.

I met Ryan Sandes and Killian Jornet before and they are friendly down to earth guys. They don't earn a huge amount for guys at the top of their sport but they love what they do and seem to run the hills with ease. Anna Frost is one of the top women in the sport. She travelled around the world last year for races and stayed in tents and camper vans.

Will be nice to rub shoulders with Sandes and other top ultra runners in such a small field. Silver belt buckle is the target (sub 24 hours). Really looking forward to it now.

overpronator

This is fairly topical, ESPN documentary about the 100m final in the 1988 olympics, focussing on the Carl Lewis v Ben Johnson story.

kingQuez

I really liked town of runners (itunes) and personal best (netflix); they're not glammed up like a lot of documentaries/movies. I seem to remember quite liking prefontaine (itunes, i think), even if its a bit cheesey. They don't come prettier than Killian Jornet's summits of my life.

b.harte

kingQuez wrote: »

They don't come prettier than Killian Jornet's summits of my life.

thanks for that, well worth watching.

Micilin Muc

Four Minutes is available on Netflix, the story of Roger Bannister's sub-4 minute mile.

rom

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Four Minutes is available on Netflix, the story of Roger Bannister's sub-4 minute mile.

I was reading something recently that there were a few 1500m runners at the time that their times suggested were a capable of a sub-4. It has been the years since that it has been hyped up more than it was at the time. Incidentally Chris Chataway finished 2nd in the european champs 5000m but two weeks later the 1,2 was reversed with him coming out on top in the London v Moscow athletics competition breaking the world record doing so in a similar finish to Haile/Tergat. This was televised and of course the sub 4 was not and as a result he won BBC Sports Personality of the Year with Roger Bannister coming in 2nd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOXLX3WYFtY

RacoonQueen

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Town of runners, endurance, the athlete, running in the sahara(maybe a bit too American), defining moment.

The Athlete is just starting on the Africa channel (Sky 209)

ecoli

Very good insight into the rise of Swedish Multi/field eventers in the late 90s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XnQyI3Mgbc

rom

ecoli wrote: »

Very good insight into the rise of Swedish Multi/field eventers in the late 90s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XnQyI3Mgbc

A great video. Seen it a bit back.

funrunner95

Link for Running to the Limits => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QasUkCNEcWI . I really liked this one, gives hope to any couch potato out there with serious running aspirations!

Cabaal

Journey Films, the guys that created the doc on the western states 100 are in the process of making a weekly trail running series. Ok not a film/doc but might be of interest.

see trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_hLZoTz_Lg