Something odd happens every year around this time. Longtime runners and newbies alike, all of them fully aware of the unfriendly temperatures lurking right beyond their doors, fish their sneakers out of the closet, tighten their laces and set out into the chilly air to cover miles of terrain by swift foot.
For many, this is more than the result of a valiant New Year’s resolution that — let’s be honest — is likely to wither away in a few weeks’ time; instead, this is the beginning of months of training for the 5k, the 10k, the half marathon or, the biggest of them all, the 26.2-mile haul known as the marathon.
The race of all races is the subject of Spirit of the Marathon, a documentary film by Mark Jonathan Harris, Jon Dunham and Gwendolen Twist that’s playing tonight only at the Savoy 16 movie theatre on Route 45.
Spanning four continents, four years and a seemingly endless cast of professional and amateur runners, Spirit of the Marathon is, in a sense, a biography of this great race. As 1968 Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot said on Chicago Marathon.
Spirit of the Marathon is playing across the country tonight, Jan. 25. Due to popular demand, select theaters will show an encore performance on Feb. 21.
The film will begin at the Savoy 16 at 7:30 p.m tonight. Because of the film’s high popularity and limited run, it’s a wise idea to try to pick up tickets in advance.