Skip to main content

Movie Night with Marshall Ulrich


We got to attend a screening of this last night in Modesto at the State Theater. It was put on as a benefit for the Modesto Marathon and Teens Run Modesto with a silent auction, raffle, food, and wine. Free wine.

We didn't bid on anything in the silent auction, but I did...for the first time EVER in my life, win a raffle prize. And a damn good one.
Ta da! I win!
The film follows Marshall Ulrich  and Charlie Engle in 2008 on their attempt to run from San Francisco to New York City faster than anyone else ever had. The record of 46 days, 8 hours, 36 minutes had held over 20 years, set by Frank Giannino in 1980. To do this, they would need to average 70 miles per day for 46 days.

Not only is this a documentary of their journey, it's a snapshot of the state of the country in September of 2008, the month before the election. When the economy was crumbling. When people were losing their homes and jobs. There are candid interviews with people along the way addressing the overwhelmingly negative feelings and pessimism many Americans felt toward the government.

The sentiment was mirrored by hardships faced by the two men; There were long shots of running on a seemingly endless rural road or trudging alone up a mountain. Running through rain, illness, pain, serious injury, snow(Marshall shared with us that he was actually shot at by a farmer in Ohio)...you get an inside look at what it's like to face the body's physical limitations along with the lowest of mental states. Loneliness seems to echo throughout the first two thirds of the film.

And then comes the hope. There's the beauty and peacefulness of the landscape. The patriotism. The school kids who are waiting on the side of the road, the loyalty of the support crew covering all those miles too.

It's a great story.

I'll admit, at the end, when I realized Marshall Ulrich was sitting a few rows up, about to be introduced, I got a little star struck. He's not a celebrity, he's a hero.

He's a hero because he has a lifetime of accomplishment. He's been out there doing things. He has hundreds of stories of racing and travelling and experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He can say things like, "the first two thousand miles were physical".

(the first what thousand WHAT!)


The guy pulled a rickshaw 135 miles across Death Valley for pete's sake.

And during the Q&A when he said "whatever you set your mind to, you can accomplish", I believed him.

Accomplishment can come in many forms whether it has to do with your health, fitness, personal life, work life, whatever.....big or small. Whether you run across the country or run your first mile, it's the exact same feeling...


I didn't know if I could, but I DID IT. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Year's One Day 12 Hour (Uh, 7 Hour) Race Report

Here's the idea: You pay actual money to run around in a circle for either 6, 12, or 24 hours. This is how you choose to spend your New Year's Eve.  That's it. That's the course. Just keep turning right until midnight.  Each time you complete a lap, you pass under the finish arch, that is never actually the finish line, and over a timing mat that tracks the number of laps you've done and displays it on a screen. This should actually say, "KEEP GOING FOR MORE HOURS" You're looking at the same people lap after lap. It's the Golden Gate Bridge over and over again. You're not actually getting anywhere.  What is the point of what we are doing. That question is exactly why I love this race.  Here are hundreds of people, lap after lap, living entirely inside their own heads for hours and hours, each with a different answer to that question.  Last year I ran because I just wanted to find out if I could do it. I wan...

Skyline to the Sea 50k, I lived.

To say the week preceding the race was an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. What I didn't know, was that it would be nothing compared to my experience out on the trail. I had said going in my goal was a sub 6 hour finish, and, unknowingly foreshadowing my race, I added, "but you never know what can happen out there." My decision to run ultras came long before my actual ability to run them, so after collecting a couple years of trail running under my belt I finally felt ready to take the plunge. Skyline to the Sea came at just the right time providing a net downhill course with just over 3,000 ft of elevation gain. If you're not aware of the on again off again drama that ensued surrounding this race, refer to my previous post  here . Race morning, standing at the trail head with over 200 other runners, a collective feeling of gratitude hung in the warm air as Wendell counted us down to start. Spectators lined the street above us, and the runners e...

Skyline to the Sea 50k. Here's what happened.

Five days before the fifth annual Skyline to the Sea 50k, entrants received an email from race director Sarah Spelt that knocked the wind out of us all: I am beyond sorry to announce that I am forced to close the doors at PCTR, effective immediately... It's been no secret to the Northern California trail running community that Pacific Coast Trail Runs has experienced quite a bit of turbulence, especially in the last year, resulting in some cancelled races and even a no show. 2012 boasted a handful of successful races, the most recent being the Diablo Marathon and 60k just three days prior. Things seemed to be on the upswing, especially with the upcoming Skyline to the Sea Marathon and 50k being completely sold out. I'd been through the disappointment over previously cancelled races, but this time was different. I'd carefully chosen this race to be my first ultra. I was brokenhearted and angry, but it didn't take long for a runner coming from Illinois specifically for t...