The chronic "run For your life" film of the life of Fred Lebow, who was one of the most influential people a road racing and the marathons of the great city of the public consciousness. Fred founded New York City Marathon in a time where the city really need something positive and was one of the catalysts for the revitalization of New York.
He began his career running in the fashion industry of clothing scratched low-priced sales. In the 1960s, with the rise in crime rates in the Bronx, he popularized running and racing in Central Park.
He started the Marathon in New York City, first as a loop of Central Park, then as a course run in all five boroughs of New York City and has transformed into a major media event each year.
I loved movie "Run For Your Life", which tells the story of Fred. The first 2 to 3 minutes are very slow and music is very in your face and forced, but once the story moves beyond generally running and starts to focus on the life of Fred and his contributions to the sport he became very endearing. Essentially, once you past that initial minutes of music did a good job of putting the mood of a scene without calling attention to itself.
The film has two things extremely well, and has been the use of old video footage and photos.
It's really cool to see actual footage of the majority of events have taken place, especially for the first race of the marathon throughout the city.
Use of photographs was also well done, often seeming to be more video footage while it stills. Photos took a life of its own, as they were on the screen.
Of the film, there are shots of political cartoons of the day headers and journal and articles flashed on the screen, that give you a good sense of time and of how the world has reacted to Fred and his race.
Many of the interviews were filmed for the film, but there were also interviews Fred of recent years and other personalities who were featured in the film. I particularly enjoyed some of the races live news coverage, especially blooper Bill Stewart then attempting to describe line arrival and Fred mocking Tom Brokaw for finishing does not a marathon, while his wife.
If you see the projection of moving to a theatre near you, I recommend to check on rent or purchase a copy at home.
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