Running allows you to grasp the present for a brief moment in time.
Films about running can therefore be thoughtful and bold, even in their simplicity. ‘The Runners’ is one of these films, a short documentary by Matan Rochlitz & Ivo Gormley.
I love the simplicity of this ten minute film where the filmmakers talk to people while they run about life’s big and small questions. Almost as poignant as the conversations is the backdrop metronome of the shoes on the pavement. The conversations inspire you to consider how your own runs afford the time to ponder life alongside a running partner. Other times, you might be your own running partner, and the voice you listen to is the one inside your head.
At first, each runner is caught off guard, but liberated from their everyday, their guard drops and what springs forth are candid, amusing and anecdotal commentary on life, loves and everything in between. Sad, funny, inspiring and mundane, every conversation has something to give.
One runner shares, “Don’t let the past and the future rob you of your present, because it’s the only thing you’ve got.”
THE RUNNERS
Other Films About Running
Take a walk (or a run) in another’s shoes with this selection of some of our favorite running movies and documentaries.
- Race: The story of Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics in then Nazi Germany.
- Free To Run: A walk down the history lane of running and how it has evolved from a sport for elite, white males, to where it resides today.
- The Barkley Marathons: A funny documentary about the cult race that has seen a failure rate significantly higher than those who cross the finish line.
- The Spirit of the Marathon: Six runners prepare for the Chicago Marathon, each with different journeys to the start line.