Running Movies
these are my must watch running movies or documentaries
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- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanLaurence OlivierRoy ScheiderAfter the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.
- DirectorDavid SchwimmerStarsSimon PeggThandiwe NewtonHank AzariaFive years after jilting his pregnant fiancée on their wedding day, out-of-shape Dennis decides to run a marathon to win her back.
- DirectorSteven Hilliard SternStarsMichael DouglasSusan AnspachLawrence DaneAmerican marathon runner Michael Andropolis sets his heart on representing his country at the Olympic games. Meanwhile his marriage has fallen apart and his children have no respect for him. He sets out on his task with determination and hope that his success will resolve his personal problems.
- DirectorMichael McGowanStarsAdam ButcherCampbell ScottJennifer TillySaint Ralph is the unlikely story of Ralph Walker, a ninth-grader who outran everyone's expectations except his own in his bold quest to win the 1954 Boston Marathon.
- DirectorJudd EhrlichStarsFred LebowEd KochNina KuscsikWithout one eccentric first-generation Jewish immigrant from Transylvania, the New York City Marathon simply wouldn't exist. Ehrlich's fun, loving, and inspirational tribute to the late Fred Lebow shows how one man's imagination, determination, and love for running created one of the world's most popular sporting events.
- DirectorCharles-Olivier MichaudStarsKelly BlatzRichard JenkinsKim BasingerA former track coach decides to train a student with natural athletic talent. Tragedy strikes, forcing the student to confront everything that has been holding him back.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMichael RedgraveTom CourtenayAvis BunnageA young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal.
- DirectorRobert TowneStarsMariel HemingwayScott GlennPatrice DonnellyThe intertwined lives and loves of three highly ranked athletes striving for the national team; Chris bounces between the beds of male coach Terry and her female friend, competitor, and role model Tory.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsJared LetoR. Lee ErmeyEd O'NeillBased on the life of Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine, a long distance runner who lived in Oregon and died young.
- DirectorJon DunhamStarsDick BeardsleyRyan BradleyLeah CailleThe first ever feature-length film to capture the essence, drama and unique spectacle of the famed 26.2-mile race, the production features five runners - three amateurs and two elites - as they train for and ultimately run the Chicago Marathon.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsPeter StraussRichard LawsonRoger E. MosleyA prisoner gets a chance to take part in the Olympics.
- DirectorRobert TowneStarsBilly CrudupDonald SutherlandMonica PotterThe life of renowned runner Steve Prefontaine and his relationship with legendary coach Bill Bowerman.
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
- DirectorDonald ShebibStarsRobby BensonPat HingleClaudia CronThe story of Billy Mills, the American Indian who came from obscurity to win the 10,000-meter long-distance foot-race in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
- DirectorCharles BeesonStarsJamie MaclachlanChristopher PlummerShaun SmythThe story of the four minute mile-breaker Roger Bannister.
- DirectorJean StewartStarsArmin Mueller-StahlNthati MosheshPaterson JosephA failed track coach finally finds someone who he believes has what it takes to win.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
- DirectorBenjamin HeisenbergStarsAndreas LustMarkus SchleinzerRoman KettnerA story based on Johann Rettenberger, an Austrian marathon runner and a bank robber.
- DirectorDavey FrankelRasselas LakewStarsRasselas LakewDag MalmbergRuta GedmintasRunning the streets of Rome in 1960, an unknown, barefooted Ethiopian man stunned the world by winning Olympic gold in the marathon. Overnight, Abebe Bikila became a sports legend. A hero in his own country and to the continent, Bikila was the first African to win a gold medal, and four years later in Tokyo would become the first person in history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the marathon. This soldier and quiet son of a shepherd would be acknowledged by many as the greatest long distance runner the world had ever known. One evening while returning to his home in Addis Ababa from training in the Ethiopian countryside, Bikila was involved in a tragic car accident which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Unable to walk and faced with the greatest challenge of his life, he struggled to maintain his will to live and in the process discovered a deeper meaning of competition, taking up archery for the Paralympics and competing as a handicapped dog sledder in Norway. Though his running career had come to a tragic end, the race of his life had a new beginning. For the first time, the true story of Bikila's epic quest for life and sport comes to the big screen. Not since Raging Bull has the life of an athlete been rendered with such emotional power and cinematic grace.
- DirectorDiederick KoopalStarsStefan de WalleMartin van WaardenbergMarcel HensemaAfter finding out that they have a tax debt of forty thousand euros, four very out-of-shape men working at a car shop start to train for a marathon in which they can win the money to pay the debt.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsKevin CostnerMaria BelloRamiro RodriguezJim White moves his family after losing his last job as a football coach, and at his new school he turns seven disappointing students into one of the best cross-country teams in the region.
- DirectorJerry RothwellTown of Runners is a feature documentary about young runners from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, home to the current Olympic and World Champions Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele. The film follows three children as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood.
- DirectorLeslie WoodheadBud GreenspanStarsHaile GebrselassieShawananness GebrselassieYonas ZergawThe gold medal for the men's 10,000-metre race in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics is won by Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie.
- DirectorJ.B. BennaStarsJ.B. BennaDavid HortonTHE RUNNER follows Extreme UltraRunner David Horton as he runs more than 40 miles per day for 66 consecutive days in an attempt to set the speed record on the 2,700 mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. An epic adventure of human endurance.
- DirectorDana Erin RichardsonSarah ZentzStarsWayne CoatesMark CucuzzellaMatt FrazierGOSHEN is a documentary depicting the diet and active lifestyle of the indigenous Tarahumara, a light-footed running tribe, who are striving to maintain their ancient culture against all odds. The Tarahumara are renowned for their incredible long distance running endurance and prevention of modern chronic diseases. For centuries, the Tarahumara have found a safe place of refuge in the remote depths of Mexico's Copper Canyons. Recently, drought and famine have threatened the Tarahumara's ability to sustain their ancient cultural traditions. GOSHEN takes you on a journey in the huarache clad footsteps of these endurance athletes, highlighting the health benefits of safeguarding their way of life. Engaging and entertaining, GOSHEN will inspire you to take part in preserving the native seeds and running traditions of the Tarahumara.
- DirectorTim VandeSteegStarsJ. Marie FiegerChris HitchcockJason HitchcockAfter tragically losing his wife to breast cancer and struggling to raise three young children on his own, real life super hero and modern day Forrest Gump, Terry Hitchcock seized on an idea. He wanted to accomplish the impossible: run 75 consecutive marathons in 75 consecutive days to bring attention to the incredibly difficult lives of single-parent families. He ran in spite of freezing rain and unbearable heat, in spite of chest pains and bone fractures that wracked his 57-year-old body. He just kept running - each day, every day - strengthening an unbreakable bond between father and son--- not stopping until he broke the finish line tape in Atlanta. MY RUN is more than a film about a guy running multiple marathons; it's a film about the daily marathons we all run in life.
- DirectorJon DunhamStarsDomenico AnziniEpiphanie NyirabarameDomenico ScipioniFrom the filmmakers who brought you the award-winning documentary Spirit of the Marathon comes Spirit of the Marathon II. Featuring all new cast of athletes as they run the iconic streets of Rome.
- StarsFranco NeroYears of sacrifice lead an elite runner to his last Olympics - in a test of endurance beyond anything in the history of marathon.
- DirectorGemma AtwalGemma Atwal's dynamic epic follows four-year-old Budhia, rescued from poverty by Biranchi Das, a larger-than-life judo coach and operator of an orphanage for slum children in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. When Budhia displays an uncommon talent for long-distance running, Biranchi nurtures his gift, heralding him as a folk hero for the impoverished masses, and maybe even for India itself. But after golden child Budhia breaks down during a world-record 65 kilometer run at the age of four, public opinion begins to turn on the guru and his disciple, and soon the two are swept up in a maelstrom of media controversy and political scandal. Following Budhia's roller-coaster journey over five years, Marathon Boy is a Dickensian tale of greed, corruption, and broken dreams set between the heart-racing world of marathon running, the poverty-stricken slums, and the political intrigue of a modernizing India. Nothing is what it seems in Budhia and Biranchi's story, and Atwal continually shifts viewer identification to tell both a shocking story of opportunism and exploitation, but also a touching portrait of an authentic bond between a parent and child.
- DirectorSterling NorenStarsMicah TrueChristopher McDougallScott JurekMicah True helps the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico preserve their traditional running culture.
- DirectorPierre MorathStarsDenis AlcadeNeil AmdurGaby Andersen-SchiessToday, all anybody needs to run is the determination and a pair of the right shoes. But just fifty years ago, running was viewed almost exclusively as the domain of elite male athletes who competed on tracks. With insight and propulsive energy, director Pierre Morath traces running�۪s rise to the 1960s, examining how the liberation movements and newfound sense of personal freedom that defined the era took the sport out of the stadiums and onto the streets, and how legends like Steve Prefontaine, Fred Lebow, and Kathrine Switzer redefined running as a populist phenomenon.
- DirectorTodd WargerBrian YoungStarsMichael BartSandy BrewerBrian BrunkowThe Mountain Runners is the story of America's first mountain endurance/adventure foot race, which took place in Bellingham, Washington. First run in 1911, the grueling 28 to 32 mile race to the glacial summit of Mount Baker and back lasted only three years due to its intrepid dangers. Told in a docudrama style, the film incorporates vintage images, historic film, visual graphics and 3D effects, and recreated dramatizations staring William B. Davis (X-Files, Smoking man). The film is well supported by a cast of Cascadian historians, descendants of race participants and a group of world-renowned experts in their field. Interviews with multiple contemporary champion athletes and authors, including: alpine speed-climbers and climbing author, Steve House and Chad Kellogg; ultrarunners Krissy Moehl, Scott Jurek, and Doug McKeever; and Second Wind author Cami Ostman, reveal a look back at the accomplishments of their endurance-athlete predecessors with astonishment. The men who ran these races in 1911-1913 were the early ultramountain runners of their generation. They were not professional athletes, but practiced a variety of vocations, including; woodsmen, loggers, coal miners, a bedspring maker, postman, a milkman and a wrestler. All who ran the race defied death and injury for a $100 purse of gold coin. This is truly an extraordinarily and amazing true story.