Last night, the hubby and I went to see My Run. My Run is an inspirational documentary about a man who ran 75 marathons in 75 consecutive days.
Let me start by saying I was very inspired by the movie. That being said, it was not really a "running" movie and I'm not sure it should have been advertised as one.
I had my hopes for a great marathon movie, especially because the previews were all about amazing marathons (The Las Vegas Marathon looks so amazing, I want to do it in 2012).
Without giving too much of the movie away, a 57-year-old man, Terry Hitchcock, decided to run from Minnesota to Atlanta (where the Olympics will be when he gets there) in honor of his deceased wife and to raise awareness of the struggles of single parents. Terry was not a runner when he started, and really never became a runner. He faced many many obstacles along the way, including a heart attack before he even started running, but he was determined to do 75 marathons in 75 days.
Like I said, I don't want to give away the ending of the movie....but a serious runner knows how important numbers are. If you say a "marathon", it means 26.2 miles, not 26 miles or 27 miles.....Terry would run 27-30 miles a day, which was amazing and I'm not trying to be critical or take away from his amazing accomplishment, but marathon runners want 26.2 miles! Us annoying runners and our "numbers", I know, but that's why Garmins are runner's favorite technology, it gives us exact numbers. Any runner who has had someone say "I ran a marathon today, it was 6 miles" knows that's like nails on a chalkboard. All runs are not "marathons"....okay I feel better! ;)
It was an inspirational movie about not giving up and finding the strenght within yourself to be someone's hero. I was so inspired about his love for his wife and his committment to his children, although I wished his wife's memory would have been a bigger part of the movie.
To be honest, my husband and I were a little let down...not with the inspiration of the movie, but it just wasn't what we had expected. We hoped to leave the theater inspired to run...and apparently the local marathons did too cause there were postcards for local marathons on all the cars when we left the theater, but it just wasn't that kind of movie.
I think someone who has never run a marathon before would be inspired to sign up for one! However, what I took from the movie was to Be Someone's Hero. Terry ended his journey disappointed that it didn't raise the awareness he hoped (in fact, they had Q & A after in which he admitted after the run he was checked into a hospital for depression)...but he is able to look back 11 years later and know that he made a difference in people's lives, and even if it only changed 1 person's life, it was worth it!
I have run marathons with charities before, mainly Alzheimer in honor of my Grandma, and I have also been a Girls On The Run coach, but if I can find a way to use my running to be someone's hero, that would take my running to a whole 'nother level!
Thank you Terry Hitchcock for reminding us all that running is mental and spiritual....and to be SOMEONE's hero!
