Spirit of the Marathon

MANILA, Philippines - In 2005, six runners had different missions. Each of them had varying tales to be told. And as they lived their everyday lives, looking for a purpose, they were able to find something they felt was worth striving for: The 2005 Chicago Marathon.

In his 2007 sports documentary, Spirit of the Marathon, director Jon Dunham manages to tell the adventures of six different runners who entered the marathon with their own goals.

Two of the featured characters were American Deena Kastor and Kenyan Daniel Njenga, who both trained ferociously in order to win the race against thousands of competitors. Also included in the list of protagonists were married couple Ryan Bradley and Lori O’Connor, 70-year-old running veteran Jerry Meyers and the emotionally-recovering Leah Caille.

The runners exhibited incredible will and fortitude as they looked to accomplish something they won’t ever forget for the rest of their lives.

Catch Part One of Spirit of the Marathon on Solar Sports’ second season of Perspectives on March 18 at 8 p.m. and Part Two on March 25.