Best Running Movie(s): Choose Two

Personal Best for the cameo of Kenny Moore's penis

Ha! Excellent choice for all the right reasons. I will add to the running list.

5000 Meters: Nothing Comes Easy and The Real Maine were epic when they came out. I don't think they'd have so much impact if you saw them today.

Without Limits is probably the best to watch today.

I don't really have an answer for #2 as you'll probably find documentaries on youtube more interesting than any other running movie that you can stream.

Great input. What about this? What's best from Running Brave, Pre, or McFarland USA you think?

My favorite Prefontaine movie is the 58 minute documentary Fire on the Track.

Those (including "Without Limits ") are not great choices, though they are quite popular movies. I think that "Personal Best," "On the Edge" (Bruce Dern's 1985-86 labor of love, and Dern and I agree that the version without Pam Grier is better), and "Endurance" (the docudrama both starring and about Haile Gebrselassie) are all better. Probably a couple other indy films, but names aren't immediately coming to mind. In the '70s, Bud Greenspan did some excellent documentaries on runners in his highly acclaimed series called "The Olympiad." You would do the running community and film aficionados a favor by expressly rejecting "Chariots of Fire" as a serious contender.

Oh, and I want to mention "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner," "The Games" (a sentimental favorite of some of us who had the chance to see it over fifty years ago, when the marathon was very much a rare but highly revered event), and "The Jericho Mile." Also, for the very best sequence in a "running movie,"I would choose Bud Greenspan's brilliant coverage of Douglas Wakiihuri's last-place finish in the 1968 Olympic marathon (which Greenspan considered his single best film sequence ever, and which is my own favorite sequence in any any running movie ever). Conversely, as the worst movie sequence ever in a "running movie," it's hard to top Michael Douglas's performance in the closing scene of "Running," about a running bum who finds some kind of redemption by straggling into the stadium to complete the Olympic marathon. It's an obvious rip-off of Greenspan's great sequence about Wakiihuri's last-place finish in 1968.

Rocky IV - literally outrunning a car up the mountain!

The long green line

Movie on a York XC season.

Movie: The Jericho Mile

Documentary: Jim Ryun-_America 's Greatest Miler

I'd have to put McFarland, USA as the best running narrative movie ever. I'd still rank Without Limits in my top five, simply for how well it effectively conveys the intended vibes at many points in the story (his freshman year experience, interactions with Bowerman, post olympic season). I find faults with how Without Limits tries to be inspirational at points (which I don't get how a character with unattainable talent can be particularly inspirational to the common viewer) while the narrative is undermined by questionable acting. McFarland, USA does a great job in speaking to both younger and adult audiences effectively, while I find that Without Limits doesn't in this aspect. Some scenes in Without Limits seem intended for a very small segment of the audience and will leave the rest either rolling their eyes or not understanding it. Without Limits might work best for the 16-17 year old male (I was 17 when it was released, so my higher ranking of it might just be for nostalgia), while McFarland works better for every other demographic.

Tier 1 (I'd put in my personal movie collection):

McFarland, USA

100 Seconds to Beat the World

Tier 1 Honorable mentions (not really running movies, but has a running scene, is about a runner, or at least captures the spirit of running training at points): Breaking Away, Icarus, Gattaca, Chungking Express (has my single favorite running scene ever), Rocky, The Graduate

Tier 2 (I'd re-watch for one reason or another):

I Am Bolt

Without Limits

Chariots of Fire

Tier 2 Honorable Mentions: 14 Peaks, Forrest Gump, Rocky IV

Tier 3 (liked these, but I'm not interested in seeing again):

Saint Ralph - this is by far the most misunderstood running movie. Panned for its unrealistic conclusion, being unrealistic was the exact purpose to drive home the main theme.

Prefontaine (I actually find this one more interesting than Without Limits, but Leto ruins it for me)

Marathon Man - great running/training scenes. Inferior narrative to other films of its style of it's time.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (this might be the best running movie ever, if judged purely from a non-runner critics perspective) One really has to be in the right mood to watch this movie, and I rarely am.

Tier 3 Honorable Mentions: Race to the Summit, Hustle (great hill interval scenes!), Unbroken

Dishonorable mentions: I've seen LOTS of running documentaries that I simply don't like - though I admit it's likely because I already know the stories and don't find them worth watching for the information I'm getting out of them.

I'm partial to McFarland because it's about ordinary people (kids and coach) becoming extraordinary rather than focusing on the elite side of running.

Also for a non-runner perspective, Brittany Runs A Marathon, gets a thumbs up.

Not yet mentioned is Running Brave a movie about Billy Mills starring Robby Benson.

The Jericho Mile.

Lydiard, Snell and Halberg. Best running movie by far: The Golden Hour:

https://vimeo.com/244136994

Trailer (long)

I think Prefontaine and McFarland USA for me.

High school coach screened Prefontaine for us once per season in lieu of an easy practice, so I'm partial to that film over Without Limits (even though Crudup is just about as good as Leto for Pre, and the filmmaking & casting of W.L. is arguably better across the board).

I remember Chariots of Fire making quite an impression on me around the same time, but was also pretty cheesy & felt "of its time."

We watched Gallipoli in a world history class back then, which centers around two runners who go to war — if you've ever seen that one through to the ending, it makes a HUGE impression. Total downer though.

Watched McFarland USA with teammates in college while hosting a weekly pasta-and-garlic-bread night at the house I rented with some friends (those were the days, weren't they?) and several of us were damn near moved to tears. Not sure I'd feel the same now, a decade later, but it was a really great high-school xc movie for sure.

Haven't seen Running Brave, The Jericho Mile, Saint Ralph or some of the other ones mentioned, BUT if anyone wants a cycling movie with some running in it that captures the same spirit of our fav 80s classics, check out American Flyers. A high school teammate showed me that (along with Breaking Away) back when we were both deep into euro cycling lore and tons of summer cross-training — I got deeper into bike racing for a bit and ended up doing that as well during college, we completed a few duathlons/tris together and both ride recreationally 15+ years later. That movie & friendship had a lot to do with it.

The Games rocked. Watching it now with a clean shaven Sam Elliot as a sleazy sports promoter is very funny “Go baby, go!”

Tracktown /2016