Spirit Of A Marathon

I went to see this movie last Thursday night. I bought the tickets for it in December and I couldn't wait to see it! My husband came along and we saw some people from the Zoomers running club I belong to. I saw "blue sneakers" there too! Her name is Josephine. I was very happy to see her there because I met her at the Lamarque 5K, but never got her name. What a sweet lady she is. Joan and Ed were there, they're very special to me, I saw some familiar faces from past races too. We met some new people as well. New to me anyway!

This movie is a documentary on 6 people who were running the Chicago marathon a few years ago. It began with meeting them and seeing them train. They all had different reasons for running, some of them I felt a connection to. I especially understood how important running a marathon had become for them. I only recently realized just how badly I need to run this marathon. NEED. It began with me thinking it would be a "fun" thing to do, it has quickly become one of the most important things I'll ever do.

This movie hit on all the points I have thought about. Interest, learning how to run, desire for speed, worrying about injury, wanting to be good at SOMETHING and feeling a connection to my fellow runner. When Deena Koster said she'd run marathons but had never won, that winning one was her new goal, I understood exactly what she meant. I feel that on a smaller scale. I'd LOVE to win a race, but for now I'll be happy to place in my age division. For now.

Another runner that sticks out in my mind was a woman named Katherine. She ran a marathon that had banned women. This was in the 70's!!!! She ran it anyway and a man tried to physically remove her from the race. She almost did quit, but decided to keep going. I felt a proudness for her determination, as a runner and as a woman.

I don't want to give too much away about this movie. I want to see it again, that's how good it was. Although, my husband fell asleep, yes, even snored a little....LOL...but in his defense he'd worked a 12 hour day and was exhausted. This movie is emotional, I felt excitement, joy, sadness and pride in all of the runners. I wanted to talk to them in person and tell each one what a fantastic accomplishment they had made. I wanted to go out and run beside them! Well, behind them. Really far behind them....LOL.

At the end of the movie I felt very emotional. It's amazing how strongly I felt about watching those runners. I was proud, excited even a little scared. I walked out of the theater knowing one more thing about myself....I will be one of them. At the end of the day on March 2, 2008, I will have run my first marathon.