Top 10 Under-The-Radar Running Movies: Part 2

Okay, so last week we gave you some of our favorite movies to get you through your quarantine/lockdown/stay-at-home order, and you probably burned through those in a day, so here’s a few more to gnaw on.

While these aren’t totally under-the-radar (you’ve probably heard of some guy named Eliud Kipchoge breaking the two-hour mark), we’re taking out the work of you having to search for them. From legendary coaches to legendary marathoners, from ultrarunning heartbreak to fictional jailhouse heroes, we got you, fam.

Most are free to watch, so spend the $5 for the ones that aren’t.

Got any other recommendations? Hit us up in the comments below.

1) City Slickers Can’t Stay With Me

This documentary looks at the life and career of legendary coach Bob Larsen (see our Q&A with Running to the Edge author Matthew Futterman, last year’s book about Bob Larsen). Larsen began coaching in the 60s and basically won everywhere he coached. In the ‘70s, he founded and led the Jamul Toads, a rag-tag bunch of long-haired runners that looked straight off the Prefontaine printing press and won the AAU National XC Championship in 1976. He later went on to be the head coach at UCLA, and then founded the Mammoth Track Club, where he coached some guy named Meb Keflezighi and some woman named Deena Kastor to their respective successes. That should be enough to keep you interested.

2) The Jericho Mile

Oh what, you didn’t think a long-haired white dude serving time in Folsom Prison in the 1970s could inspire the whole general population of the jail in his attempt to break a sub-4 mile on the dirt prison yard track? Think again. This fictional made-for-TV movie was the first full-length feature from Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice) and features a rousing and utterly predictable final scene overlaid with an instrumental version of Sympathy for the Devil. Pre who?

3) Found on 49 – The Jim Walmsley Story

There are almost too many ultra-running docs or mini-docs on YouTube, mainly because every ultrarunner has an interesting storyline and a thousand things can go wrong during a hundred-mile race. Speaking of things going wrong, this documentary takes an inside look at Jim Walmsley’s everything-is-fine-oh-no-now-it’s-a-disaster first attempt at the 100-mile distance at the 2016 Western States Endurance Run. Of course, he later went on to destroy all kinds of trail running races and records (including the CR at Western States), but this documentary is not that, and it offers a glimpse inside a moment of heartbreak and defeat.

4) INEOS 1:59 Challenge Live

At first, I was going to say just watch minutes 2:55:00-3:05:00, but then I realized you literally have nothing better to do with your life than watch Eliud Kipchoge in the greatest one-man show ever. So just watch the whole thing, over and over, and try not to cry every time he comes down the finishing chute.

5) Joe Rogan Experience #1027 – Courtney Dauwalter

It’s kind of a legendary episode (at least I think so anyway), but if you haven’t watched/listened to it, you need to take in Courtney Dauwalter on an in-depth episode right after she destroyed the Moab 240, winning by 10 hours. Watch Joe’s mind implode as she divulges the nacho/candy/beer-drinking secrets to her success, no DMT or elk meat required. (Btw, to date, she is still the only runner I totally went geek fanboy mode on and couldn’t find words to say when I ran into her in a hotel lobby. Lucky for her.)