Ultrarunning and Life, the Game of Inches

It's well past my bedtime, but I'm awake and I can't stop thinking about running. I keep playing out Badwater in my head: what it must be like to run the race. If I close my eyes, I can see Death Valley. I am running and I can see the road ahead narrowing off into - where? What lies beyond the road except more road? And I can hear the patter of my own feet as they come down on the blacktop. Feel the heat radiating against my legs, and not just my legs, but everywhere really. The inescapable grasp of some awesome power. My God. The One I pray to before every run. The One to whom I offer up my daily sweat.

And after these visions comes the pain of the yearning, because, inevitably, the feelings turn physical and all I can do, as always, is go for a run.

Now, I've just finished watching a clip on YouTube. It is from the football movie, "Any Given Sunday." Al Pacino plays the coach of an NFL team, and towards the end of the movie, he and his team find themselves in an impossible situation: they are down and have little chance of coming back to win. During a locker room break (the locker room break, the typical sports movie Big Speech Moment), Pacino gathers his players and coaching staff around to deliver one last speech.

It's is one of the most stirring, powerfully affecting speeches I've ever heard in a sports movie partly because it avoids most of the sentimental traps typical for the genre (it still remains recognizably a Big Speech Moment) and partly because Pacino is still capable of delivering a tough, fine performance.

He talks about football being a game of inches, how when you find yourself in the depths of hell, when you are down and out, all you can do is fight to claw your way out, inch by inch. You have to be willing, he says, to fight and die for each inch.
Anyone who has suffered hard to get to where they want (need) to be knows, instinctively, what he means. It's not just about football. His words get under your skin and even deeper - they get down to the bone - because he is talking about life. He is talking about you and me and the game we all play.

I've come to realize how trivial and unimportant Badwater must seem to many (most) people. But surely there is something in your life that burns you up, consumes you. Surely you've wanted something so badly that you were willing to do anything to make it real. I think the desire to achieve - and eventually, the striving for that achievement - is what largely defines our characters. What we do defines who we are. What's your goal?

The goal should be something worth striving for. Something that gives us great satisfaction. Something more substantial and enriching than money, fame, or sex. Maybe the goal is to help others: that must be extremely satisfying. Maybe it's to climb a mountain or cross a desert. Maybe it's to be a good father or mother, a devoted wife or husband. Whatever the goal is, and there can and should be several in our lives, we should desire it passionately, and then strive for it inch by inch. Live for it and love it. And maybe one day we can look back and say, "I've done it. I've accomplished something worthwhile."

That must make for a good life.

New Trailer for Western States 100 Documentary

Review of "127 Hours"

If you've read "Born to Run," you will remember that Aron Ralston was given free admission to the Leadville 100 in 2004. Race co-founder Ken Chlouber offered Aron the chance to do Leadville, a very tough mountain race, without paying the entry fee. This baffled some people: everyone paid the entry fee. Even the defending champ paid. Why special treatment for Aron? "He is the essence of Leadville," Chlouber responded. After watching "127 Hours," you see what he meant.

You no doubt heard the story in the news back in 2003 when a hiker in Utah cut off his own arm to save his life after being pinned in a canyon by a fallen boulder and trapped for 5 days. That ordeal is chronicled here. For a majority of the film, we are stuck down in that canyon with Aron. We witness his slow deterioration: desolation, starvation, dehydration.

And yet, this is not a difficult film to watch, not even when Aron eventually cuts off his own arm with a cheap, rusty pocket knife. It is a very entertaining film. It exists in the moment. We are right there with Aron as he analyzes the absurdity of his situation and the stupidity of his decision to not tell anyone where he was going.

He isn't glorified as a hero. He is just a guy who did what he had to do to live. The will to survive is incredible. Humans are wired to cling to life at all costs. Not everyone gets to explore this base, primal survival instinct.

Could you cut off your arm to survive?

What Aron did was really something. He tapped into a part of his nature that few people ever explore for themselves, and yet, I suspect most people have the inner strength to do just what he did.

What director Danny Boyle has done here is create a visceral experience. The story is simple, but the emotions that carry us through the story are lasting and real. The movie becomes profound.

Documentary serves up a great deal of inspiration

"Pressure Cooker" is a wonderful and charming documentary about about a high school culinary arts class in working-class Northeast Philadelphia. The movie has absolutely nothing to do with running, but its themes of discipline, hard-work, and perseverance are universal to all pursuits of life - running included. This is an inspiring piece of work.

It is difficult to describe how affecting this movie is. You come to care for each of the characters; you become totally involved in the suspense of what will happen to them after graduation, and you understand how their determination is key to their success. Consider Fatoumata, a young girl recently immigrated from Africa, who is so intent on achieving academic success that while all the other students are busy seeking out dates for the prom, she is busy getting together her recommendations for her college applications.

At the center of the documentary is Ms. Stephenson, an outspoken and tough-as-nails teacher who wants nothing more than to see all of her students succeed in making something of their lives. In their impoverished surroundings, few people have the opportunity to go to college. "I just want to get away," says one student. Ms. Stephenson wants to make that happen. Cooking is the vehicle she uses to create opportunities for these kids. If she can get them to the state culinary arts competition, her students will have a chance to compete for scholarships of up to $80,000 to attend the Culinary Institute of America.

Please seek this movie out. It is worth watching and is great entertainment for the whole family.