Spirit of the Marathon Movie Review
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Did you ever go to a movie after hearing all your friends rave only to be disappointed, as if the hype had spoiled it for you? Spirit of the Marathon was that movie for me. Last fall I tried to get tickets to one of the special showings here in the Atlanta area and each time the movie was sold out. I figured it must have been amazing to sell out so quickly so I patiently put the DVD in my Netflix queue. In the meantime friends told me how inspiring the movie which only heightened my excitement. Last weekend I finally watched the DVD and was pretty let down.
Anyway, here’s the set-up: the movie follows several runners from first-timers to elite finishers training for and competing in the 2005 Chicago Marathon. The movie throws in some historical info about the marathon (how it came about, competitors and records over the years, etc.) and includes interviews with big names in running like Paula Radcliffe.
To help put my review in perspective, here’s where I’m coming from: I’ve been running for about 20 years (including competitively in high school) and completed my first (and only) marathon in 2005 with my Boston-qualifying (and finishing) wife. We watched the movie together and honestly we couldn’t get excited about the stories of the people who were just running the race to finish it – where’s the competitive spirit there? The one competitive “regular” guy in the movie who was hoping to use the Chicago marathon to qualify for Boston didn’t even get a chance to run at Chicago – certainly a letdown for him but also for those of us watching the movie (we need to see some competition!).
Along the same lines, early in the movie someone mentions “once you cross the finish line it will change your life forever” and that line is even printed on the DVD cover. As soon as I heard it I scratched my head and thought, seriously? Running a marathon is certainly a big accomplishment for most folks but I would hardly classify it as life changing. If you disagree with me then perhaps you’ll enjoy this movie; otherwise I say you can afford to skip this one.
The film seemed to jump around quite a bit, particularly in the beginning, and I can’t help but think the number of athletes being filmed ended up being a tad ambitious (3 women and 3 men). As far as documentaries go this one is pretty predictable and at times the musical and video choices seemed cliche. About halfway through the movie I decided the only way the movie would be worth finishing would be if were set during the 2007 Chicago Marathon when the event was canceled mid-way due to extreme heat. At least then we would have seen some conflict and some truly gutsy finishes. Instead we got a ho-hum commentary on first timers finishing a marathon. I guess what I’m trying to say is the movie lacked excitement – period.
After watching Spirit of the Marathon my wife and I decided the movie could be inspirational for those who are considering running their first marathon but pretty boring for everyone else. It’s kinda like watching your friend’s home videos – no one you know is in the movie and you find yourself bored but acting polite just because you know the events in the video were important to your friend. Nope, if you’re looking for an inspiring running movie stick to films like Prefontaine or even Run Fat Boy, Run. As Ricky Bobby says, “If you’re second, you’re last!”