When I first started running, it was just my free time hobby and out of desire to practice something new. At that time - few years ago- I did not know that I will re-discover myself through running. It has become now more than a sport or activity to practice during free time. In fact, it has become a habit and a way of life.
To me, running now is not only wearing the "Running Shoes" and going on the streets or parks. But as
anything else in this era of change and rapid development, it has become a
Science and a Study. For instance, the new generation of football managers have to
register to coaching classes and pass a lot of exams to be able to hold a
degree as licensed managers. This also goes for other sports and other careers,
such as services and hospitality for example.
From this point, I started
searching for everything related to running, like articles, magazines, books (I
advise you to read the book by the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami "What I
Talk About When I Talk About Running" and "Born to run" by Christopher McDougall and intersting book about ultra running with a lot of information and studies about running, health, shoes that may be of interest to runners) and ... MOVIES.
In the last few years there have
been a lot of movies about running, it seems people are getting more and more attracted
to this lovely sport. Thus, producers are also focusing on it after the era of
Boxing with "Rocky Balboa", Kung Fu with "Jackey Chan"
& "Bruce Lee" and so on.
In fact, "Running Movies"
have been in production since long time ago, the first movie I saw and which
inspired me a lot was the famous movie the "Immortal Runner" Terry
Fox, which was produced in 1983. These days there was a new project under
production "Born to Run" starring "Mathew McConaughey",
that was supposed to be released in the late 2015 or beginning 2016 but for unknown reasons it seems the project has stopped.
So, here is a list of some
"Inspiring Running Movies" that I have watched, you have to notice that
some of them may not be only about running, in other words, some movies are not
totally focusing on the running part. Running may be a part of the story or
even an inspiration for the movie itself but it is not the main subject of the
movie for example the Academy Award Winner "Forrest Gump".
Now here is my running movies' list:
1 - The Terry Fox Story:
 |
| Terry Fox statue in Ottawa |
Starring: Eric Fryer, Robert Duvall, Chris Makepeace
Year Produced: 1983
Rating on IMDB: 7.0
The story of "Terry Fox" the Canadian cancer amputee hero who decided to run across Canada on One leg to raise funds for cancer research.
One of the most powerful and
inspiring running movies and a true story full of passion, desire, ambition,
will and strength. Unfortunately, Terry could not finish his "Marathon of
Hope" -as he called it- because cancer won over him and he died before
reaching his goal but till now you can still find his statues in Ottawa and
British Columbia as a tribute to his immortal legacy.
Starring: Dani Rovira, Karra Elejalde, Alexandra Jimenez
Year Produced: 2016
Rating on IMDB: 7.5
"Based on true events, a Spanish man with multiple sclerosis who tried to finish an Iron-Man
competition despite he was told that he could not make 100 meters."
A touching story, which will push you to put on your running shoes, and go running and why not thinking of participating in an Iron-Man competition. A film worth watching and in my personal opinion it deserves higher rating.
3 - De Marathon:
Starring: Stefan De Walle, Martin Van Waardenberg, Marcel Hensema, Frank Lammers, Mimoun Oaissa.
Year Produced: 2012 (Netherlands)
Rating on IMDB: 7.5
A very nice mix of comedy, drama
and sports. This Dutch movie portrays the details of daily life of four Out-Of-Shape men
showing their problems in work, love, health, family and with friends. Also, it
details their decision to run the marathon after finding that they have a debt of 40,000 Euros with the tax service, and how the decision impacts on
them. What I like about this movie is how it expresses the feeling that every
marathon runners have, that felling of "keep going on" and "do
not stop" till the last breathe.
4 - McFarland, USA:
Starring: Kevin Costner, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz, Rafael Martinez, HectorDuran, Sergio Avelar, Michael Aguero
Year Produced: 2015
Rating on IMDB: 7.5
Based on a true story, this movie
shows how running changed the destiny of a city. A story of a coach who is
searching for his own revelation through a g
 |
| The Real McFarland team with their Coach Photo from google.com |
5- 4 minute mile:Starring: Kelly Blatz, Richard Jenkins, Kim Basinger.
Year Produced: 2014
Rating on IMDB: 6.3
A "Drama & Sports" movie. It reflects the confusion "Drew" a student with a natural athletic talent
between his athletic's career and the world of crime. It shows the thin line between good and bad, between decent life and crime world. And the efforts made by a former track coach and champion to train "Drew" until a tragedy strike holding the student back from achieving his dreams. A movie worth watching it for all talented runners.
6 - Run Fat Boy Run:
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
Year Produced: 2007
Rating on IMDB: 6.7
In this "Romantic, sporty
comedy" you meet Dennis, an out-of-shape and a heavy smoker, who was
scared to death during his wedding so he simply .... Run away!
Later on, he tries to get back to
his bride but she was already in a relation with a "marathoner" so
Dennis thought that running the marathon will be his way back.
Regardless of the romantic story,
the movie highlights some good tips about running. It also brings in the idea
that the result in the marathon is not important but the will to finish.In my
opinion, it is a good movie to be watched by runners.
7- Race:
Starring: Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Eli Goree. |
| Jesse Owens. Photo Source:Wikipidia |
Rating on IMDB: 7.1
The story of Jesse Owens' quest to become the greatest athlete in the "Track & Field" regardless to all the difficulties he faced being a colored athlete, his participation in the 1936 Olympic games and his friendship with a German athlete in an era full of racism and shortly before world war II.
8 - Unbroken:
Starring: Jack O'connell, Takamasa Ishihara, Domhnall Gleeson
Year Produced: 2014
Rating on IMDB: 7.2
 |
| The Real Louis Zamperini (1917-2014) |
Also, another true story about the
American -of Italian origin- Athlete Louis Zamperini, who was preparing for the Olympic games in Japan. Because the World War II took place,
Zamperini went to Japan but unfortunately as a prisoner. He suffered a lot
there mentally and physically but due to his athletic background he was
unbroken and kept his spirit high, this is what gave him strength, while he was
imagining himself running and running and running. A nice movie that shows us
the positive effects of running and how can contribute to tolerance, patience
and will to face obstacles.
Zamperini fulfilled his dream of
running the Japanese Olympics in 1998. As it is mentioned on Wikipedia "Four days before his 81st birthday in January 1998,
Zamperini ran a leg in the Olympic Torch relay for the Winter Olympics in
Nagano, Japan, not far from the POW camp where he had been held".
9- Chariots of Fire:
Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicolas Farell
Year Produced: 1981
Rating on IMDB: 7.3
Based on the true story of two British athletes who competed in
1924 Olympics held in Paris.
A nice movie full of running, running and running.
It displays two athletes who aim
toward breaking records and winning the Olympic race, in a simple
sentence: when there is a will, impossible
does not exist.
10 -Der Rauber (The Robber):
Starring: Andreas Lust, Franziska Weisz, Florian Wotruba
Year Produced: 2010
Rating on IMDB: 6.8
An Austro-German thriller based on the book by Austrian writer Martin Prinz "On the run" portraying "Johann Rettenberger", the book (and later the movie) is based in the true story of Johann
Kastenberger- the Austrian Marathoner ... Bank Robber and Murderer.
Well, this a movie with a story
within the story. The inspiration comes from the bright side of
"Johann" as he is described in Wikipedia: "Kastenberger was a
successful marathon runner. In the 1980's he won several national races in
Austria and in the 1988 he became the record holder of Kainach Mountain
Marathon with a time of 03:16:07".
On the other hand, Kastenberger -or
Rettenberger in the movie- used to wear a "Ronald Reagan" mask and
rob banks and committed murders later on before he was killed at the end of the
movie. Nevertheless, this dark side of his life never prevented him from
running, a talent that he practiced even in prison.
11 - Forrest Gump:
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise.
Year of Production: 1994
Rating on IMDB: 8.8
This iconic movie does not need
much explanation, though running is just a small part of this Academy award
film, almost every runner around the world knows the famous sentence of Jenny:
"Run Forrest Run". In addition, the scene with Forrest when he starts
his non-stop running and the inspiration he gave for a lot of people all around
the US/ the world though he was not running for a specific cause but it was a clear
statement that running is a metaphor for action.
12 - Marathon Man:
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Olivier Laurence, Roy Scheider
Year Produced: 1976
Rating on IMDB: 7.5
It is a movie that tells the story
of a History graduate student and a runner at the same time, whose brother is
involved in some "Post-WWII" political activities and because of that
he faced a lot of problems. Truly speaking, the movie is not a running movie
per se as its name might indicate, but the main character (Hoffman) is a runner
and this helps him in running away from those chasing him in addition to
endorse his great ability to withstand torture while in capture.
