Film is a medium in which a filmmaker communicates with his or her viewers. In ultrarunning films, filmmakers may communicate glimpses of the training, lifestyle, and the incredible training scenery of our favorite athletes. These films can be made independently but often shoe, gear, and media companies help foot the bill and promote sponsored athletes along with ultrarunning in general. Film can also bring a unique element of race coverage and depth to the sport. Films like Unbreakable allow us to witness the front action of the 2010 Western States 100 race with some race history to boot. To the viewers, films offer insight and inspiration.
Here we look at some of the prominent ultrarunning films that have been produced as well as those coming soon; additionally, we offer viewing information for each film so you can enjoy them, too. Through this, we see that the niche of ultrarunning filmmaking has both been a part of the sport for longer than most of us have and it’s presently experiencing a boom cycle.
Cross-Continental Running Films
Several documentaries cover running across North America. The Great American Foot Race, produced by Vision Maker Video, documents the 1928 race from Los Angeles to New York won by 19-year-old Andy Payne. His win netted him an extraordinary prize purse for the time, $25,000. The Great American Foot Race is available on DVD as well as on on Amazon Instant Video for rental or purchase. You’ll see in the trailer that some entertaining reenactment is used to portray an event that took place about 85 years ago:
Runners Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich are captured in their 2008 American transcontinental running attempt by a documentary produced by Nehst Studios. You can purchase Running America on the film’s website on the website via DVD, download, or streaming.
Running the Sahara is another documentary starring Charlie Engle. In 2007, he and two other runners, Kevin Lin and Ray Zahab, ran across the Sahara Desert and has some adventures/misadventures in the process. The film, a LivePlanet and Allentown Production, is available on DVD and by download. Enjoy the trailer:
Race Coverage Films
Two documentaries have been produced on the Badwater Ultramarathon. Running on the Sun was directed by Mel Stuart and is about the 1999 race. Purchasing the DVD is pretty pricey over on Amazon these days because the film is no longer commercially available, but you can watch online on Netflix. The trailer alone will make you melt in Badwater’s heat:
Profiling HURT, produced by Barry Walton, follows runners Mark Gilligan and Scott Guild in their preparation for and racing of the 2008 HURT 100. The film is available on DVD.
A Glimpse of Heaven and a Taste of Hell from H and A Productions is a film on the 2007 Tahoe Rim Trail 100, which was also the RRCA and USATF National Championship 100-miler that year. Buy the DVD over on ZombieRunner and enjoy its trailer:
Amyx Video & Editing put together a race-coverage film on the popular Way Too Cool 50k as well as videos on the Tamalpa Headlands 50k, The Dipsea Race, and the Quad Dipsea. All are available from the Amyx Video website on DVD, but, guess what, you have to use that funny thing called snail mail to order them!
Fresh From The Yukon, Inc. produced a race video on the 2005 Yukon Arctic Ultra which includes marathon, 100-mile, and 300-mile races. The DVD is available on their website. Burr!
Not surprisingly, the Western States 100 has been the subject of numerous films. Two separate films by CentreBurn Productions titled Desperate Dreams I and Desperate Dreams II cover the race’s 1982 and 1983 runnings. We love the idea of a glimpse into early versions of the race, but don’t think you can buy that film anywhere now. You’re better off checking your old-school ultrarunner friends’ VHS collections for these.
A Race for the Soul covers the 2001 Western States 100; buy it and watch Scott Jurek and Ann Trason run like heck. Running Madness, produced by Susan Cohn Rockefeller, covers the 2002 race; enjoy the full film free online. Here’s the trailer:
Unbreakable is a feature-length film by JourneyFilm’s JB Benna that details the 2010 race between Hal Koerner, Geoff Roes, Tony Krupicka, and Kilian Jornet as well as race founder Gordy Ainsleigh. The film can be purchased (by DVD and download) on the JourneyFilm website. Note that we published a detailed review of the film and its fall 2011 premier in San Francisco. Here’s the trailer:
Runner/Team Spotlight Films
Also from JB Benna is The Runner chronicling David Horton’s emotional thru-run of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. (Watch the trailer or buy the DVD.) The film and David are both so inspiring that you’ll want to climb every mountain and run every trail in sight. JB, too, made Ultramarathon Man: 50 Marathons, 50 States, 50 Days which captures Dean Karnazes’ 50-day journey throughout the United States. (Watch the trailer or buy the DVD.)
Legendary ultrarunner Yiannis Kouros is spotlighted in the biographical film Yiannis Kouros: Forever Running. The film is in Greek with English subtitles and is available available on DVD at ZombieRunner.
Filmmaker Joel Wolpert has done some high-quality profiles on runners such as In the Bitterroots with Mike Foote, Slogging to the Top with Geoff Roes, and The Runner in Winter about Tony Krupicka. These films yield glimpses of the lifestyle of these runners and their relationship with the environments they run through.
Joel and Tony teamed up for a second time last summer to film In The High Country, which is expected to be released in the summer of 2013. This film focuses on Tony’s late summer trips in the high Colorado Rockies after his fourth-place finish in the Leadville 100. Enjoy the trailer for it in the meantime, which will probably make you schedule a mountain vacation for next year:
The Salomon Running crew releases many short trail running films. There have been two seasons of Salomon Running TV that chronicle the races, training, and adventures of the large group of Salomon-sponsored athletes produced by filmmakers The African Attachment (Enjoy our recent interview with them.). Peruse and watch all the episodes from the first five seasons. Salomon has also put out the Kilian’s Quest films directed by Sébastien Montaz-Rosset which has now been produced for four seasons. Explore all four seasons’ episodes.
The African Attachment is also working with Salomon-sponsored athlete Ryan Sandes on the not-yet-released film, Wandering Fever. The film’s trailer will satiate while we await the real deal:
Sébastien and Kilian have also teamed up for the filmmaking part of a project called Summits of My Life. This is a three-year mountaineering project in which Kilian is exploring his connection to nature and the mountains by scaling monumental peaks of the world as quickly as he can. The project will culminate with Kilian climbing Mount Everest in 2015. The first installment, A Fine Line (our review of the film and its premier in Spain), was released in December of 2012 and is available for purchase on DVD or through download on the Summits of My Life website. Enjoy its trailer:
Call for Comments (from Meghan)
- What ultrarunning films have we missed? In particular, we’re interested in hearing what VHS tapes of no-longer-purchase-able films might be sitting on your shelves.
- Surely you haven’t seen all of these films, have you? Which of them are you most excited about watching?
- Videography is an especially inspiring communication medium for ultrarunning. What films or trailers have you used to psyche yourself up for a big run or race? How do you think they influence our sport?
