Movies about running

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Foreword

Here is a movies non-exhaustive list talking directly or indirectly about running.

Loneliness of the long distance runner

Trailer :

Release date : 1962
British movie from Tony Richardson
With Michael Redgrave, Tom Courtenay, Alec McCowen
Genre :Dramatic comedy

Synopsis :

Fleet-footed Colin Smith is a rebellious teenager in the poverty-stricken town of Nottingham, in northern England, who enjoys running as an escape from his harsh reality. Caught stealing cash from a bakery, Colin is sent to a reform school where the manipulative governor promotes sports as rehabilitation by enlisting Colin in a foot race against a prestigious rival school.

Marathon man

Trailer :

Release date : December the 22th 1976 (Duration : 2h 05min)
American movie from John Schlesinger
With Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider
Genre : Thriller

Synopsis :

Thomas "Babe" Levy is a Columbia graduate student and long-distance runner who is oblivious to the fact that his older brother, Doc, is a government agent chasing down a Nazi war criminal. Doc is murdered and Babe finds himself knee-deep in a tangle of stolen gems and sadistic madmen.

The Jericho Mile

Release date : 1979 (Duration : 1h 37min)
American movie from Michael Mann
With Peter Strauss, Richard Lawson, Roger E. Mosley
Genre : Drame

Synopsis :

Larry "Rain" Murphy is stuck in Folsom Prison for life on a first-degree murder charge. Murphy spends much of his time running around the facility's track. When he begins reaching a mile in under four minutes, Murphy gains the attention of the jail's officials, who contemplate entering him in the Olympics. While Murphy is initially resistant to the idea, eventually he starts training to be an Olympic competitor.

Running

Release date : april 1980 (Duration : 1h 37min)
Canadian/American from Steven Hilliard Stern
With Michael Douglas, Susan Anspach, Lawrence Dane
Genre : Drama

Synopsis :

Once-promising long-distance runner Michael Andropolis is given one last shot to prove himself when he's allowed a chance to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. Incapable of competing without somehow sabotaging himself -- either on the field or in real life -- Michael has alienated both his wife, Janet, and his training coach. But, knowing that this is his very last shot at greatness, he endeavors to give it everything he can.

Chariots of Fire

Trailer :

Release date : May the 20th 1981 (Duration : 2h 05min)
American/British de Hugh Hudson
With Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell
Genre : Drama, Historic

Synopsis :

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided United Kingdom of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart Sybil in his single-minded quest.

Personal Best

Trailer :

Release date : 1982 (Duration : 2h 04min)
American movie from Robert Towne
With Mariel Hemingway, Scott Glenn, Patrice Donnelly
Genre : Drama

Synopsis :

The cross life about three famous athletes.

Running Brave

Release date : 1983 (Duration : 1h 46min)
American movie from D.S. Everett
With Robby Benson, Pat Hingle, Claudia Cron
Genre : Biopic

Synopsis :

The true story of Billy Mills, the American Indian that came from obscurity, to win the 10,000 meter long distance foot race in the Tokyo Olympics.

On the Edge

Release date : 1986 (Duration : 1h 35min)
American movie from Rob Nilsson
With Bruce Dern, Pam Grier, Bill Bailey
Genre : Drama

Synopsis :

In one final attempt to achieve victory, an aging professional runner, Wes Holman, is training vigorously for a very tough marathon race.

Run for Your Life

Release date : 1988 (Duration : 1h 25min)
British/Italian movie from Terence Young
With David Carradine, Lauren Hutton, George Segal
Genre : Drama, Thriller

Synopsis :

Major Charles Forsythe is a Vietnam veteran U.S. Army officer stationed near Rome. He is a brutal. He takes out his anger by beating his pregnant wife Sarah. She miscarries. On her release from the hospital, Sarah is determined to get back into shape and begins running. Sarah wants to run in the Rome marathon, a race which her husband has won two years in a row. Sarah realizes that winning the race is the best way to avenge the death of her baby and destroy her husband's ego.

Forrest Gump

Trailer :

Release date : October the 5th 1994 (Duration : 2h 20min)
American movie from Robert Zemeckis
With Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Robin Wright
Genre : Dramatic comedy, romance

Synopsis :

Some American history decades, from 1940 to the end of XX century, throught the look and strange odyssey of a simple and pure man, Forrest Gump.

Prefontaine

Trailer :

Release date : 1997 (Duration : 1h 46min)
American movie from Steve James
With Jared Leto, Breckin Meyer, Lindsay Crouse
Genre : Drama, Biopic

Synopsis :

The olympic runner's life story of Steve Prefontaine and his brutal die in 1975.

Without Limits

Trailer :

Release date : 1998 (Duration : 1h 57min)
American movie from Robert Towne
With Billy Crudup, Donald Sutherland, Monica Potter
Genre : Drama, Biopic

Synopsis :

Steve Prefontaine long distance runner life story, young winner died at 24 years in a car accident.

Endurance

Release date : Septembre the 13th 2000 (Duration : 1h 24min)
American/German/British movie from Leslie Woodhead
With Abinet Tedesse, Berhane Tesfaye, Shawanness Gebreselassie
Genre : Biopic

Synopsis :

The true story of Haile Gebreselassie, a young Ethiopian who won the 10,000 meter long distance foot race in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Behind this feat is hiding an extraordinary story, the one of a man, from Ethiopian savanna to the the first place on the podium, running after his destiny. Haile have few entertainments, but he have dreams.

Ralph

Trailer :

Release date : November the 2nd 2005 (Duration : 1h 38min)
Canadian movie from Michael McGowan
With Adam Butcher, Campbell Scott Michael, Gordon Pinsent
Genre : Dramatic comedy

Synopsis :

Ralph is the unlikely story of Ralph Walker, a ninth grader who outran everyone's expectations except his own in his bold quest of trying to win the 1954 Boston Marathon.

Marathon

Trailer :

Release date : 26 avril 2006 (Duration : 1h 53min)
South-Corea movie from Chung Yoon-Chul
With Cho Seung-woo, Kim Mi-Sook, Lee Ki-Young
Genre : Drama

Synopsis :

An autistic boy discovers he has a talent for running and with the help of the mother participates in a major marathon.

Run, Fat Boy, Run

Trailer :

Release date : March the 5th 2008 (Duration : 1h 35min)
British movie from David Schwimmer
With Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
Genre : Comedy, Romance

Synopsis :

Five years after jilting his pregnant fiancée on their wedding day, out-of-shape Dennis decides to run a marathon to win her back.

De toutes nos forces

Trailer :

Release date : March the 26th 2014 (1h 29min)
French/Belgium movie from Nils Tavernier
With Jacques Gamblin, Alexandra Lamy, Fabien Heraud
Genre : Dramatic comedy

Synopsis :

Julien, teenager in wheeling chair challenge his father to participate to the Nice's Ironman.

Unbroken

Trailer :

Release date : January the 7th 2015 (2h 17min)
American movie from Angelina Jolie
With Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund
Genre : War, Biopic, Drama

Synopsis :

After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

McFarland, USA

Trailer :

Release date : 2015
American movie from Niki Caro
With Kevin Costner, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz
Genre : Drama

Synopsis :

Jim White moves his family after losing his last job as a football coach. He sees that some of the students are worth starting a cross-country team and turns seven students with no hope into one of the best cross-country teams.

Free to run

Trailer :

Release date : April the 13th 2016
French/Belgium movie from Pierre Morath
With Philippe Torreton
Genre : Documentary

Synopsis :

Today, all anybody needs to run is the determination and a pair of the right shoes. But just fifty years ago, running was viewed almost exclusively as the domain of elite male athletes who competed on tracks. With insight and propulsive energy, director Pierre Morath traces running's rise to the 1960s, examining how the liberation movements and newfound sense of personal freedom that defined the era took the sport out of the stadiums and onto the streets, and how legends like Steve Prefontaine, Fred Lebow, and Kathrine Switzer redefined running as a populist phenomenon.

I don't say it will be easy, I says it will worth it.

If you want something you've never had, you'll have to do what you've never done before.

Your attitude matters more than your abilities. Zig Ziglar

Motivation is when dreams put on their work clothes. Benjamin Franklin

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill

I do it because I can. I can because I want it. I want it because I'm told that I can't.

If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success. Will Smith

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. W. P. Kinsella

Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so. Belva Davis

Go to the end of things before giving up.

Not having tried is worse than failure.

Every expert was once a beginner.

If you don't succeed the first time, shake and try again. Aaliyah

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. Henry Ford

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford

Crying can give you sympathy, sweat will give you results. Laurent Vicente

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford

Crying can give you sympathy, sweat will give you results. Laurent Vicente

Don't think limits. Usain Bolt

Running is the only medicine that my legs and my head, but also my heart and my soul, need. Laurent Vicente

A man who conquers himself is greater than one who conquers a thousand men in battle. Bouddha

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. Zatopek

Is defeated only whoever believes it. Fernando de Rojas

I never lose. I either win or learn. Nelson Mandela

I often hear someone say I'm not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner. Bart Yasso

I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards. Alberto Salazar

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. Irish Blessing

Your legs are not giving out. Your head is giving out. Keep going. Jillian Michaels

No matter how fast you run, you'll always be faster than those who sit on their couch. Richard Paradis

Ask yourself: « Can I give more? ». The answer is usually: « Yes ». Paul Tergat

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start. John Bingham

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. Oscar Wilde

No one ever drowned in sweat.

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. Edward Stanley

Experience is a lantern that is worn on the back and that never shines the path. Confucius

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

That little voice inside your head that says you can't do it, well... it's a liar!

Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.

Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Each step count.

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or your predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. William Faulkner

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. Roger Bannister

You do not get to the summit by overtaking others, but by overtaking yourself.

Life's battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can. Steve Prefontaine

To win a race, the swiftness of a dart availeth not without a timely start. Jean de la Fontaine

If you feels good racing an ultramarathon, don't worry, it will pass... Guillaume Millet

Never allow your fear to grow larger than your faith. Jillian Michaels

Why choose to fail when success is an option? Jillian Michaels