On Saturday night I have two marathon runners (Phil and Cathy) to feed and entertain and keep calm before they run London the next day. As well as feeding them carbs I’ll be putting on a film to keep them quiet and induce good dreams. Here’s some suggestions I had.
Run Fat Boy Run
This is what we’ll be watching on Saturday night. It’s a fun film for runners to pick holes in “stretching before a run – pah” and “that’s not a real marathon” or “he’s not even fat”. But all this aside its a classic underdog story and one that a lot of runners who fell into the sport by signing up for a race because their friends were can relate to.
McFarland, USA
If I hadn’t watched this just the other week it would probably be our Saturday night viewing. Kevin Costner of Field of Dreams “Build it and they will come” brilliance (and that could probably make the list itself) plays a football coach turned unwitting cross country coach. It’s based on a true story of reluctant high school runners – think Mighty Ducks (another good shout) but without the ice or sticks. The best bit of the film (this is no spoiler) is the end credits when the real people the film is based on are out running and you find out what came of them. Whether you’ve got a race or not, watch it.
Marathon Man
Suggested by Phil as a “Really good thriller and you see Dustin Hoffman running round Central Park. More of a distraction from your anxiety about your race than film about running.”
IMDB says: “A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent.”
Spirit of the Marathon
I watched this on my friend Laura’s recommendation the other day. It’s a documentary following a group of people (amateurs and elites) training for a the Chicago Marathon. It does a really good job of capturing the highs and lows of training and racing and features interviews with some of the big names in marathon running too, including Paula. I steamed it online.
Cool Runnings
Another suggestion by Laura: “I mean, it’s not running but it’s sport and it’s awesome.” Agreed. You don’t need me to tell you to go watch this true story about the first Jamaican bobsled team.
Forrest Gump
This did not make the list because you always forget how long that film is which could result in a late night before your big race and it always makes me cry loads. Think about your hydration strategy people! Crying half your fluid intake out is not part of the plan. You could just watch the 7mins of running across America scenes here.
If you’re after an exceptionally early night, you could stick to a sitcom episode…
How I Met Your Mother: Lucy Penny, where Barney runs the New York Marathon and offers up the very true quote: “Here’s how you run a marathon: Step one, you start running. There is no step two.”
New Girl: Sectrets, an episode where they run a 10k as suggested by my friend Josie. I have not seen this episode so I’m off to watch that now instead of going running.
I watched Prefontaine the night before the Britush Transplant Games last year to get me in the track spirit. Must’ve worked, I won 4 golds and retained my trophy! ☺️
Thanks for the great recommendations! I would also recommend this sweet German film called “Sein letztes Rennen”, which translates as His Last Race, but the English title is actually “Back on Track”. Anyway, it’s about this former Olympian who decides to run a marathon again in protest at being put in an old people’s home. It’s about getting older and it’s pretty sentimental (I cried) but also funny and there’s some great footage of the Berlin marathon. Plus it’s got Frederick Lau, one of my favourite German actors. Definitely recommend!!
Great. Will have to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion.
I love watching Fast girls. And Emelie Sande, Heaven, from the film is my ‘morning of’ song!
Great list! I watched the recent Eddie Izzard documentary before my Paris a couple of weeks ago and found myself thinking of it when i was feeling down in the run. Inspiring!
Fab post and I now have a few new films to check out 🙂
It’s not about running but it was Chasing Mavericks for me before Brighton last weekend (my first marathon). Always gives me drive and inspires me to push on and chase my dreams.
True Blue – again not a running film but a rather posh macho story about the Oxford Cambridge boat race. It’s got some good running montage scenes, as well as early morning training sessions in the cold water.
The new Barkley Marathons movie is so cool – and makes a marathon seem like a cake walk! Available on Netflix.
Thank you for recommending The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young. Also available at barkleymovie.com
I love all of these movies and can see how they’d really motivate you the night before a big race! Great idea!