Running Movie Marathon

Of course Pitt is excellent. Duh.

In keeping with my all running all the time postings lately I've decided to get a little inspirational during my marathon training. It's been brutally hot outside, so I need all the help I can get. Let's have a little running movie marathon! (pun intended). These are two great tastes that that taste great together. I'm totally stealing this idea from my favorite movie podcast Filmspotting. They take a theme, genre, director or whatever and watch a series of movies over several weeks and review and talk about them. Who's with me??

The idea may be stolen, but the inspiration came the other day when I flipped on the television and caught the last quarter of a movie called Running. Michael Douglas as a 34 year old runner trying out for the Olympics?!!? Why have I never heard of this movie before? Did the makers of Run, Fatboy, Run steal their plot from this movie? Why was this entire movie shot in soft focus? So many questions from such a cheesy movie.

Here is the list of movies I've compiled so far. Some of these I've seen, some I've not, but they are all being considered. I'll probably pick five or six, the easier to get the movies the better, so if anybody wants to play along or make suggestions let's do this...

Across The Tracks - This is the only sure thing. Brad Pitt and Rick Schroder as brothers running on competing track teams?? Dude. I actually have a vague memory of seeing this movie at some point. I'm sure it will hold up as a classic. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

Running On The Sun - 40 runners compete in the Badwater 135. That's 135 miles across a desert. That's insane. Available on Netflix.

Run For Your Life - An excellent documentary about the life of the creator of the New York Marathon Fred Lebow. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

Run, Fatboy, Run - Simon Pegg as a lovable loser trying to win his girl back by running a marathon and learning many life lessons along the way. Comedy and hijinks follow. 

Spirit of the Marathon - Follow a group of runners at levels from first time marathoner to professional as they prepare and run The Chicago Marathon. The best running documentary or running movie I've ever seen. Period. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming. Also available right on the IMDb web page via Hulu with some commercials. Totally worth it. 

Without Limits or Prefontaine - Two movies about the man, the myth, the legend. Pre. Double feature? Both available on Netflix.

The Long Run -Grumpy old coach looking for one more shot at glory trains a young woman to race the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. You know, Hoosiers with running in South Africa. Available on Netflix.

St. Ralph -Kid tries to strike up a deal with God that if he wins the Boston Marathon his mother will be healed. Get out the Kleenex I'm sensing tear jerker. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

On The Edge - Some guy makes a mistake and trains to win some race overseas. Drama unfolds. It's life man. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

Chariots of Fire - Queue the theme music and do your slow motion running. It's on. Available on Netflix.

Running Brave - The story of one of the greats, Billy Mills, and his path to gold in the Olympics. Should be a good one, maybe. Unfortunately may also be hard to find. Not available anywhere as far as I can tell.

Personal Best - Two female athletes train together, fall in love, and probably face some sort of trials and tribulations along the way. Just guessing. Available on Netflix.

Running - That Michael Douglas stars as an aging runner fighting to do the one thing he loves most...run and win the Olympic Marathon. Not available on Netflix, but I may try to catch this one again on Showtime. Cheesetastic.

Let's watch some movies.