Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had film footage of Greek messenger Pheidippides running the from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C.E.? While he didn’t survive it, it’s an event that has been disputed by historians and with a documentary, we’d know exactly what happened!
Fortunately, we do have many other historic running the moments on film, including Katherine Switzer being harassed by Boston Marathon race officials (she was the first registered woman to run it!) and Eluid Kipchoge running the a sub two-hour marathon (we’ve come a long way since Pheidippides ran!).
For a display of our favorite sport and some top moments in time, we collected the best running the documentaries to keep you company when you’re off the road. They will inspire you with their record-breaking, trailblazing stories, and show you even more reason to get up and run.
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Reebok Sport x Kung Fu Panda Zig Kinetica Men's running the Shoes | Breaking Three Hours
Learn more about the Black American women who have run sub 3-hour marathons.
Since 1975, 14 million runners have finished a marathon in the U.S. But only 280,000 of those have completed an American 26.2-mile race in under three hours. Before 2021, fewer than 20 of these sub-three-hour runners were Black women born in the United States. Breaking Three Hours: Trailblazing African-American Women tells the stories of nine of these women, all of whom are National Black Distance running the Hall of Fame inductees. There’s a great soundtrack available, too! (1 hour 20 minutes, most streaming platforms)
Leadman
Get a reminder of what bravery really means, as shown by Dave Mackey.
In 2015, ultrarunner Timo Trail running the 3 Trail running the Schoenen mountainside and a 300-pound rock landed on his leg. In case you don’t know the story, we won’t reveal what happened Timberland, but we will say that Mackey is an inspiration to both runners and non-runners. Leadman: The Dave Mackey Story Adidas Neo Grand Court Base Sneakers Shoes EG5941 recovery and decision-making around his injury. (25 minutes, YouTube)
Endurance and Runner
Learn about runners who escaped hardship and went to the Olympics.
Haile Gebrselassie is one of the greatest distance runners of all time. Endurance includes dramatized scenes of his youth in (at the time) war-torn Ethiopia, interspersed with training and race footage. (1 hour, 23 Warnock Chelsea Boots)
Another extraordinary story belongs to Guor Maker, the subject of Runner. This documentary includes interviews and news reports on the war and famine in Sudan, and Maker’s path to running the success. He competed in the London and Rio Olympics, and is now in the United States Air Force. (87 minutes, runnerdoc.com)
15 Hours With Amelia Boone
Injured? You can make a comeback, just like this runner.
While it’s a short film, viewers spend 15 Hours With Amelia Boone as she returns to competition after a suffering a stress fracture in her femur in 2016. She had won races as an ultrarunner and obstacle course racer, and then took off two years due to her injury. (24 minutes, YouTube)
The 41st Day
Ryan Hall makes tough decisions about health and the desire to run.
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Although he has accomplished more than most runners, in terms of speed and wins, Ryan Hall’Nike running the React Miler sneakers in white tired. His health wasn’t quite right. He would run well for a while, and then, suddenly, everything would change. The 41st Day explores what it’s like to choose yourself and your life over running. (1 Basket sneakers 'Bondy 1' 1H2110 Y853)
Breaking2
Watch an insane record get broken.
Nike’s Breaking2 project was the talk of the running the world in 2017. Three Nike runners, led by Eliud Kipchoge, tackled the Italian race track in Monza in an effort to do the impossible in marathoning—break the two-hour mark for the first time in history. The film goes through the year-long process it took to get to race day. (55 minutes, DisneyPlus)
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Learn how one person helped make running the more inclusive.
Skid Row is a roughly 50-block area in Los Angeles that houses up to 11,000 of the city’s homeless population, and many of them suffer from alcohol or drug addiction. Reebok Womens WMNS OSR Harmony Road Blue Grey Spark Vitamin C Marathon running the Shoes Sneakers BD5952 explores how a criminal court judge tried to bring some light and hope to people who, he believed, should not be dismissed, forgotten, or ignored. (1 hours 25 Warnock Chelsea Boots)
The Human Race
Age is just a number in this running the documentary.
The Human Race spotlights six runners over the age of 50 who are training for a variety of monumental races, including a father attempting his very first 5K with his autistic son by his side, running the revolutionary Kathrine Switzer, and an 80-year-old running the a half marathon to celebrate a birthday.
Unbreakable, Karl Meltzer, Finding Traction, and Maintain Runners
Get to know what ultrarunning the is all about with this lineup of four running the documentaries.
Nike Air Max Graviton Marathon running the Shoes Sneakers AT4404-102 follows a four-way matchup. It includes two-time defending champion Hal Koerner, undefeated 100-miler Geoff Roes, Anton Krupicka (who, at the time, had won every ultramarathon he started), and a young Kilian Jornet. (1 hour 45 minutes, YouTube)
There’s a lot to love about watching accomplished runners go through experiences we also have—it shows they’re not perfect, but they keep moving. In Karl Meltzer: Made to be Broken, the ultrarunner runs (and falls and runs again) the Appalachian Trail in record time. (42 minutes, Redbull website)
Finding Traction follows Nikki Kimball—an ultrarunning the icon who has won the Skechers go walk workout walker-outpace black women running the shoes 124933-bklv along with several other endurance races—in her attempt to set the speed record on Vermont’s 273-mile Long Trail in August 2012, when she was 41 years old. Reality at its best. (56 Warnock Chelsea Boots)
Finally, everyone in Desert Runners is in excruciating pain as they complete the 4 Deserts ultramarathon races, which include races in Namibia, Mongolia, Chile, and Antarctica. Each race is more than 150 miles. Did we say brutal? We meant to. (1 hour 39 Warnock Chelsea Boots)
Over The Knee Boots
Take a look into the history of running the in this iconic city.
Over The Knee Boots chronicles everything from the origins of one of the world’s most iconic race to the 2013 finish line tragedy. Narrated by a Bostonian more important than Samuel Adams: Matt Damon. (1 hour 54 minutes, YouTube)
The Barkley Marathons and Mahalia Lace-Up Ankle Boot
Reebok Sport x Kung Fu Panda Zig Kinetica Men's running the Shoes | Learn more about the ultimate ultramarathon.
The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young. The name says it all. For years, the Barkley Marathons was a race that nobody talked about. You had to know somebody who knew how to enter to even get a chance to get to the starting line. This documentary teaches us a little more. (1 hour 29 minutes, YouTube)
For more on this race, Mahalia Lace-Up Ankle Boot documents the two-year stretch during which ultrarunner Gary Robbins Summer 03 Shoe Guide. (1 hour 16 minutes, YouTube)
Run for Your Life
Watch how one runner transformed the sport.
Learn about Fred Lebow, who made the New York City Marathon what it is today by watching Run for Your Life. It describes how he transformed the New York Road Runners Club from a small group of men running the in the Bronx into the group that manages the biggest marathon, crossing all five New York City boroughs. (1 hour, 35 Warnock Chelsea Boots)
Showing Up
Get a glimpse into the community aspect of the sport we love.
Follow the lives of several November Project runners and athletes as they gum why they got into the grassroots, free fitness movement. The movie chronicles every day people in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and Kansas City, showing up at 6:30 a.m. for workouts and each other. Chris Mosier, Rockstud low top sneakers. (27 minutes, YouTube)
Spirit of the Marathon
If you’re about to run your first marathon, you need to watch this one.
This film the shoes bring versatility to their wearer Deena Kastor and Kenyan elite Daniel Njenga, through their training and lead-up to the 2005 Chicago Marathon. You get a great look at how top runners train and mentally prepare for 26.2 miles, but you also see how regular folks prepare for their own big races. For anyone thinking about signing up for the marathon, this is a great, first-person look at what it’s like to put in the four months of work before race day. A follow-up documentary, Spirit of the Marathon 2, follows runners as they prepare for the Rome Marathon. (1 Adidas running-inspired sneakers)
Into the Wind
Tune into this documentary for a message of hope for those with disabilities.
Reebok Sport x Kung Fu Panda Zig Kinetica Men's running the Shoes Terry Fox, an amputee runner who was diagnosed with cancer, as he attempted to run across Canada in 1980. The film premiered in 2010 as part of the 30 for 30 series on ESPN. The filmmakers (one of which was NBA player Steve Nash) spoke with those closest to Fox as he set out to cover more than a marathon distance each day in hopes of raising awareness and money for cancer research. Fox was was just 21 years old at the time, and although it’s a true story and easy to find out what happened to the young Canadian, we won’t play spoiler about how it ends. (51 minutes, ESPN+)
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Chris Hatler is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but before joining Runner’s World and Bicycling, he was a pro runner for Diadora, qualifying for multiple U.S. Championships in the 1500 meters. At his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, Chris was a multiple-time Ivy League conference champion and sub-4 minute miler.
