Spirit of the Marathon II : Movie Night

On June 12th, the one night release by Fathom Events of Spirit of the Marathon II, occurred nationwide at 7 pm.  Of course, with Jess and I combining for multiple marathons provides enough reason why we enjoyed the first movie as well as this one.  Jess is in love with everything Italian and takes great pride in her Milan and Venice area family roots.  That makes a movie about the Rome Marathon tough to turn down.


The positives for the movie, similar to the first one, were the different views from different types of runners and the intertwined life stories with footage of the Rome Marathon.  My personal favorite, Domenico, was a cousin of one of the primary runners followed, Mimmo (also Domenico), who owns "The Runner" Pizzeria (Il Podista) in the movie.  Two older gentlemen who took multiple hours each day to train together and work hard.  Both providing great outlooks on life and the joy that running has brought them through many marathons.  The pro athletes followed, Vasyl Matviychuk and Epiphanie Nyirabarame, were from the Ukraine and Rwanda respectively, and demonstrated the style of life and dedication required to overcome the difficulties of running as your job.  The scenes from Rwanda showed a different culture and athletes who were breaking the mold of typical Rwandan lives.  Epiphanie had to overcome both cultural and familial expectations to enter the world of elite marathoning.  Most importantly, the movie showed the joy of running and its inherent companionship.  Each athlete casted for the movie showed how running can add to life and the lessons that are learned on the road.  All runners can connect to that message and the purity of the sport.

Unlike the first movie, we were not treated to an American athlete (like Deena Kastor in the original) in the training for Rome.  The variety was excellent in both movies, but an insight into Deena's life may, for people like me, be a bigger draw as she is an individual well known and heavily rooted for by Americans.  Regardless of the nationalities, the movie draws on the runners spirit and variety in life.  Everyone is busy in their own way, but these individuals know that an hour run trumps an hour on the couch each and every day.

We enjoyed the experience of the movie and the "This Water is Beautiful" documentary after the credits focusing on providing sustainable fresh water to many African nations.  Highly recommended for runners, especially those training for a marathon, and for the aspiring runner alike.

Enjoy the show!