Review of Run for Your Life (1988) by Mike W — 26 Dec 2011

The story of the origins of the NYC Marathon. For something of such a grand scale, it is always interesting to see how it all started. Really, you can pick apart just about anything and make it interesting. That's what History's Modern Marvels is all about. But the NYC Marathon was about people, in particular Fred Lebow, who first started a marathon in Central Park, then later made the more familiar NYC Marathon that is internationally known.

As one reviewer says, it's a documentary for people who already know what Fred Lebow deserves his own documentary. Definitely, most of the people featured in the film were near and dear friends of Lebow. But who else is going to tell the story? The lamos like on A&E biography who never actually met the biographied individual? That said, the production value is not all that great. And the story, as interesting as it is, is not so compelling to overcome this. It's a decent watch because the Marathon is a big deal so why not learn about it. It's not anything spectacular because, well, it's about running a lot.