So, I am giving up on watching a “running movie” every night and writing a review because once you watch this one all the others will be kind of boring and really are not much worth watching.

There are some that have merit and I would recommend watching just because…how could you not want to watch “Forrest Gump” again?  I cannot tell you how many times I have finished a marathon or ultra-marathon and used the famous line…“ I’m tired…I think I want to go home now”.

The movie “I am Bolt” is pretty good about an African runner who makes it big and is a hometown hero. The training routine he uses is unique and his determination is unbelievable.

The one you want to watch though is “Boston the Documentary” that came out in 2017.   This movie has everything. The history of the Boston Marathon from the very beginning all the way up through the year after the bombing.  For me as a marathon runner and one who has run the Boston Marathon twice, it brought back so many memories and my thoughts went to all of the people who I have met running all of these years and how their determination helped me to achieve what I have in my running career.

I start to wonder sometimes how long I can keep running long distances and hope to be able to finally qualify for Boston as a centurion.  Then, watching this movie, they talk about how Johnny Kelley ran the Boston Marathon in eight different decades.

The documentary reviews several notable runners over the long, storied history of the marathon, including:

• Stylianos Kyriakides, who ran in 1946 to raise money for his home country of Greece
• There is a piece about Shalene Flanagan and her attempt to win the 2014 Boston Marathon and how she trained and came so close to winning (this was the year after the Boston Marathon bombing)
• Then there is the part a Meb Keflezighi and how he did win the 2014 Boston Marathon, the first time an American had won since 1983 and he is the only marathon runner to win Boston, New York and a silver medal in the Olympic Marathon. In that 2014 Boston Marathon not only did he defeat many top seeded marathoners, he beat his own personal best with at time of 2:08:37
• And…How could do a documentary on the Boston Marathon and not talk about Bill Rodgers (Boston Billy).  Bill Rodgers ran his first marathon at the Bay State Marathon (just like me!) in Lowell, Mass in 1973 in a time of 2:28:17 and won! This after he had dropped out of the Boston Marathon that April at mile 20 (I was a little slower because I ran it in 1994)

Amby Burfoot the long-time editor of Runners World magazine and long time friend of Bill Rodgers give numerous interviews in the movie.  If you remember, Amby was the one who got Boston Billy to run.  She was also the one who came up with the saying…

“While none of us can know for sure that running will add years to your life…. there is no doubt that it will add life to your years’’

That saying is so true for me. If it wasn’t for running, I know I would never have seen every state in this wonderful country.  I never would have gone to Antarctica, Cuba, or South Africa.  I never would have seen the peaks of Switzerland, let alone run along them.

I have had the “life” to run numerous road races with all of the children that Maria and I have raised.  Even Jeff ran the Disney half marathon with me. I ran the Manchester Thanksgiving Day Run with Beth and many half marathons with Erika, Adrienne…and even one with Kit.  Then just this year I was invited to run a “life” event when Adrienne ran her first full marathon and I got to see the whole thing.

I would never have been a part of the “One Fund Team” when I ran the 2014 Boston Marathon as part of a team raising money for the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.  Many of that team had never run more than a 5K before and because of a common thread that brought us all together as a rope everyone on that team finished the Boston Marathon with less than four months of training.  We were all brought together and coached by Dan Soleau who was interviewed in this documentary because he was working at Marathon Sports when the bombs went off.  Dan and others from Marathon Sports came up with the idea to ask the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) to give them 50 numbers (entries) in the 2014 Boston Marathon so that they could raise $50,000 for the “One Fund” to help those who were injured in the bombing.   The BAA agreed and Dan and his team requested that anyone who wanted to join the team submit a essay on why they wanted to be part of the team.  They received over 1000 essays.  Some were people who were injured or knew someone who was injured in the bombing. The team was not picked until mid-January and training began shortly after for many who had never run before.  That winter was one of the colder Boston winters, but luckily, not too much snow.  Twice a week the “Team” would meet at one of the Marathon Sports stores and would go for a run together after a coaching session by Dan.  Many of the “One Fund Team” still follow each other and “coach” each other on “life”.

The fall of that same year the “One Fund Team” and the “415 Strong Team” put together another team that ran the “Reach the Beach” relay race that goes from Bretton Woods, NH to Hampton, NH and is run as a relay that goes day and night for 200 miles.  The leader, for lack of a better word, of the 415 Strong Team is Dave Fortier, who also is interviewed in this documentary suffered a leg injury and loss of hearing in one ear. I felt honored to not only get to run that relay with Dave and his team, but to continue to be a friend with him got the chance to add life to my years with that group.

I could go on for days reminiscing about all the places I have seen and all the people I have met because of running, but for now I can tell you this documentary may help you understand why so many people have made running a part of their life.

So, only time will tell if running adds years to your life…but I am certain it will add life to your years.