"Spirit of the Marathon" movie

One of the best lines in the movie - "When we go out with friends, who are also runners, all we talk about is running. While we are running, we talk about anything and everything else!"

That is so true with my friends and I!

Is that how it is with you?

It was awesome to see people that I know who were in the movie, particularly the elite runners and even some of the media folks at the press conference, including marathon man Sean Hartnett of Track & Field News!

I did want to jump out of my seat and strangle the freaking penguin, especially listening to his lecture at the pre-race expo--I can only imagine what the LetsRun crowd would've said if they heard the crap cumming out of his mouth.

Daniel Njenga had the arm-warmers going which was cool--I'm amazed he didn't get ripped by LetsRun for wearing them...I wished he would've thrown more rocks at the hippos in Kenya and pissed them off to the point where they would've chased them.

The part about Daniel Njenga's brother being killed and his house burned down made me sad especially given what's going on in Kenya now.

The part where Ryan Bradley runs on the treadmill at 5-minute pace gives some perspective on how fast elite marathoners run...I was waiting for him to get slammed against the wall like a cartoon character by the speed of the treadmill.

Overall, a very solid movie...I may even want to download some of the music from the movie from iTunes and put in in my Nano!

Did anyone go to the one in Syracuse, NY? There was also one near Scranton, Pa. I wonder how the attendance was?

Drove into Madison to see it and it was sold out so I bought tickets for the 21st. I don't how it got sold out when you couldn't pre-buy.

I was waiting for same thing on the treadmill. If you went and didn't stay after the credits for the deleted scenes, you may have missed the funniest scene where Njenga harrasses some hippos. I understand why it didn't make the film, but it was quite funny.

wejo wrote:

documentaries are very hard to keep interesting all the time as you can't just make stuff up

You can if you're Michael Moore!

The most interesting thing I have learned from this thread is that wejo has a girlfriend

It was great except for the Penguin. What he had to say at the expo really belittles what running is all about. Even the older gentlemen who is a penguin in every since of the word wants to run faster and you have to listen to that idiot Bingham imploring the runners to take their sweet time. That's terrible.

The best parts of the film were any scenes with Paula Radcliffe. I had no idea she was so smoking hot! I've only seen her in races, never in street clothes.

Yeah, I'm glad that they didn't show more of the Penguin guy and his philosophy. My wife is a non-runner and I was also surprised (like Wejo) that she wasn't bored. She thought the old guy was pretty cool and a good addition, but thought that the filmmakers could have focused a little bit on the science of the marathon. Just a little bit, explaining what happens to the body, for people who can't relate at all.

I liked the old footage and would have liked to see a little bit more guts and glory kind of racing in the movie - but I can't deny that they did a good job of presenting a balanced view of the marathon, from the elites to the charity runners to the 6 hour types.

We were in the Portsmouth, NH showing and it wasn't packed, but pretty full.

The theater I saw it at (Fort Lauderdale) was packed.

I really enjoyed the movie from beginning to end. I especially enjoyed the chick running by herself. She's just an average runner. I identified with her a lot in that she runs alone, isn't super speedy, but takes it seriously.

I think for the speedy peeps this put a face on the "penguins" and let everyone see what the elites go through.

PS - I LOVE Deena!

Great documentary. Gives me thoughts while training in MA for Boston during our bleak mid-winter. I noticed Casey

Moulton running with Deena throughout the marathon.

I almost forgot about the John "the penguin"...the part where he was lecturing at the expo and said you paid your money to be here and the course is open for 7 hours so if you finish earlier you aren't getting your money's worth definitely made me cringe.

wejo wrote:

My theater in NY only had 40 people in it (Queens) but the other ones in the city (3) were sold out.

The theater in Staten Island had about 25 people.

Does anyone know if this is gonna be shown in England?

ukrun wrote:

Does anyone know if this is gonna be shown in England?

Ask them directly -

I saw it in a packed theater, Northern California.

Well rounded film.

It paid homage to marathon history, reported on elites, and explained the struggle of the masses.

Best part: when the runner visits his doc for meniscus injury, then helps out others while he's injured. What a good guy to his wife and family.

We had it near Milwaukee and it was pretty close to a sell out. Great movie as it lets us see all of the different levels of people doing marathons. You can get the soundtrack on iTunes by the way.

My favorite scene had to be at the end in the extras...Njenga and the hippos was awesome.

Great movie!

I think the money shots in the movie were the starting line fly-over and the post finish shot with the finishers in their mylar blankets. That kind of pulled it all together.

I too was hoping the guy would hit the wall in the treadmill scene.

The theater in Norfolk, VA was pretty close to a sell out. I know it was also playing in several other locations in the area and they were well attended too.