Friday, January 25, 2008

Spirit of the Marathon

Yesterday was like an unofficial holiday for runners. Last night - and last night only - was the showing of Spirit of the Marathon in theaters.



Spirit is a documentary that follows six runners of varying abilities (from a Kenyan to bronze medalist Deena Castor to a guy trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon to first time runners to a guy in his 60s) through their training and the race.

I knew I was in for a good time when I parked my car and saw that I was surrounded by other cars with 26.2 stickers on them. The theater was packed with people wearing race t-shirts and running sneakers, making up a nearly sold-out crowd.

It was a really fun setting to be in, as the audience would geek out about interviews with Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, and John Bingham. I was, of course, excited to see my girl Paula Radcliffe.

The stories were really compelling, and the whole thing was totally inspiring. I wanted to go out for a run right away (though the fact that it was after 10:00 and under 15 degrees below stopped me), and I have to admit that when I got home, I went on the internet to see if there's a way I can run two marathons this year instead of just one (looks like not).

5 comments:

Nancy said...

It was great, wasn't it? I haven't blogged about it yet, but I went with Tom and Amy. We had a great time! I think Paula is awesome too. Can you believe how fast they run? Geez.

newsjunkie said...

I didn't get to see it, now I'm really bummed after reading this.

Too bad you won't be able to get two marathons in. If my plan works out I'll get to do 2 marathons and 1 half.

But now you have a goal for next year!

Sunshine said...

Enjoyed reading your movie review/experience.
We are hoping for the DVD.
Happy marathon running...

Nibbles said...

I can't believe I missed it! Which marathon are you doing this year?

Anonymous said...

Great summary! Let's explore how we can find a way for you to run two marathons this year.

One way is to run two fairly back-to-back to take advantage of the high level of conditioning you're in. Just need to be careful to get enough recovery between them.