Friday, April 1, 2011

"My Run" - My Thoughts


Met up with an old work friend and his wife last night for dinner and to watch the one-night event screening of the movie ‘My Run’.  For those not familiar with the story, it focuses on Terry Hitchcock who loses his wife to breast cancer, raises his 3 kids as a single father, and decides to run from St. Paul to Atlanta just prior to the Atlanta Olympic games to raise awareness of the issues that single parents face.  To accomplish this he sets out to run 75 marathons on 75 consecutive days covering 2,000+ miles.  An ambitious plan to say the least, but even more ambitious considering he is over 50, out-of-shape, has high blood pressure, and is not a runner.
This was a very emotional, remarkable film.  Although the marathon of marathons is the central point of the story, I wouldn’t call this a ‘running movie’.  I’ve watched ‘Running the Sahara’ and ‘Spirit of the Marathon’, which are definitely running movies and left me feeling inspired to get out and keep training and running.  This movie is definitely inspirational, but not about running – more about life.  The running is shown for what it is – a way to create a platform for Terry to get his message out about single parent families.  He says several times during the movie and the Q&A afterwards that there was nothing fun about the running.  He wasn’t properly trained and he makes no pretense otherwise.  The run takes a massive toll on him physically, nearly killing him and leaving his body broken in several places.  They don’t glamorize the mega-marathon, and that’s not the intent.  This movie is about setting a goal, sometimes one that folks would call ‘crazy’, and giving every ounce of what you have to achieve it.  This man pushed himself to a place that few would even consider going, achieved his goal, spread the message he wanted to teach, and recaptured a bit of his life and his relationship with his family along the way.

The movie itself is extremely well done, and very compelling.  There are touching points throughout, both in terms of crushing sorrow and uplifting human connection.   The first 10-15 minutes are heart-wrenching.  Since most of the movies I see are ones to which I take my kids, the first part of the movie that deals with the loss of his wife reminded me a little of the opening sequence from Pixar’s ‘Up’.  By no means do I mean to trivialize the loss his family endured by trying to equate it with a cartoon, but the emotion it invokes is very similar.  When Terry’s wife passes away, there wasn’t a dry eye in the theater, mine included.  However, it is that sorrow, and the manner in which it is conveyed, that makes the rest of the movie so inspiring.

Just as impressive as what Terry accomplishes is the dedication that his oldest son shows by staying with him throughout the entire run, through difficulties both physical and emotional.  I don’t think there are many 20-year-olds that would have done what he did.  Heroes  aren’t always those most visible.

I would highly recommend seeing this movie if the chance presents itself.  You certainly don’t need to be a runner to be touched by this story.  We’ve all been touched by cancer, dealt with tremendous loss, felt helpless or hopeless at some point, and this is a story that shows how one man worked through all these things to do something extraordinary in the spirit of helping others.  Hopefully it inspires others to find their own personal marathon.

18 comments:

  1. This was a great review! it really gave me a sense of what the movie would be like. Thanks. I definitely would like to see it.

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  2. Wow, that was a really well written review. Thank you so much for giving me a real sense of the movie.

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  3. nice review. well written. i have not seen it yet, but just in this posting i knwo more about the movie than any FB posting/Ad i have seen of it.

    oh the opening sequence of UP was really well done - animated or not. thus your comparison is well intended.

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  4. TOtally agree that the son was one of the most impressive people in the movie. Inspiring, but not "running-centric" other than that was what he happened to be doing.

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  5. Thank you for the review. I had to miss it last night but it's on my list.

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  6. This was a great review young man. You are seriously a talented writer. I never did see Up. I guess I should. I'm back to doing long runs. You know what that means...HENDERSON!

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  7. great review! sounds awesome, will have to check it out.

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  8. That was a really good review. Thx for taking the time to convey what the movie is about

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  9. Thanks for the great review! Unfortunately it is not playing in Canada, perhaps it will if it does really well!

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  10. I went and saw it on Thursday night, too. What really bothered me was that I couldn't quite figure out what it was he was raising awareness for...yes, for single parents but was there a specific fundraiser behind it? Even his daugther at the end said it didn't quite generate the support for his cause and I kept thinking, "What cause exactly???" I didn't stay for the Q&A at the end, maybe it was addressed then. Very touching movie, though - I was rooting for him the entire way!

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  11. Wow. Sounds like quite a movie. Looking forward to checking it out!

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  12. Great review - hoping I get a chance to see it!

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  13. This sounds amazing - I'm going to seek it out. Perhaps I can get it on DVD?

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  14. I was really hoping to get to this, but honestly the weeknight was too hard to swing. (how sad is that!?) However, I'm hoping that I can still catch it as some point.

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  15. great review. definitely want to see it now... i'll have to watch out for it...

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  16. I didn't get to see it, so I really appreciated your review. I cried at "Up" so I'm sure that this would be a tear jerker for me as well. I even sat there thinking to myself, "you are crying at a cartoon. This is pathetic." It was even more amazing that not a word was spoken during that first 5 minutes.
    Anyway... I'll have to watch for this on DVD! Thanks!

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  17. Thanks for the review! I've never heard of this movie, but I'm going to have to check it out!

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  18. This is a fantastic review, and I think you hit the nail on the head. I saw this movie with a running friend and left the theater feeling a bit disappointed. I felt Terry's defeat, his pain, his suffering, and his desire to quit running immediately after his journey -- and I didn't blame him. Unlike other running movies that leave me wanting to lace up my shoes and pound the pavement, this movie left me feeling empty. However, you are right... I never thought about the fact that this wasn't a movie to inspire people to go running -- it was a movie meant to inspire people to hone in on their passions and do something actually ACT on it. While I never didn't feel the need to go run 2000+ miles after watching this (like I did when watching Dean run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days), perhaps I need to rethink of what I WOULD do for the sake of awareness.

    That's a great takeaway that I never thought about -- thanks for opening my eyes to that.

    xoxo,
    A

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