Flick Pick: Running On The Sun (2000)

From time to time I'll post some recommendations for movies that runner's or outdoor sports enthusiasts might enjoy. One such movie is a documentary called Running On The Sun: The Badwater 135 (2000). That's "135" as in one-hundred and thirty five miles! This intriguing, and ofetn difficult to watch, documentary follows thirteen participants and their support teams as they train and compete in the most grueling ultra-marathon, the Badwater 135, which goes through Death Valley to the peaks of Mount Whitney. If this film is any indication it was as painful to run as one might suspect. The film, by director Mel Stuart, follows male and female athletes who each have taken very different paths to to this race, where finishing IS the accomplishment.

A mailman, a fitness instructor, a member of the Armed Forces, an amputee and others all start the race, while only a few finish. This film, in parts,is oddly like a horror movie: the intrigue is in watching to see how the runner's attempt to avoid (while eventually succumbing) to the film's "protagnist", the course itself. Turns and twists in the story are around every corner. One would imagine that the director had to make many difficult choices while editting the film, given the runners he chose to follow most closely, as they were not always the ones who emerged as finishers.

Those whom you would think at the start have the greatest chance, fall by the way side, devastated by their failure to finish. But the overall sense of community these runners share triumphs in the end as those who have failed themselves, rally to support the runners who, though dehydrated, blistered, and psychologically battered, make their to the top of the mountain, both literally and figuratively.