Years ago I used to take part in Newcastle’s Great North Run, that annual 13-mile “fun run” where you collapse over the finish line wondering how on earth anybody could turn round and jog all the way back, for the full distance. My highlight was beating an ex-Marine from my gym (well, he told me he was an ex-Marine). The low point was being bested in the final few yards on a boiling hot day by a man wedged inside a papier mâché hippopotamus. Inevitably, a few months after completing the race, my toenails would fall off.
My experiences are far from unique, so there should be plenty of material for a decent mockumentary about that world.
Enter newest entrant Marathon, from writer-directors Keith Strausbaugh and Anthony Guidubaldi. Billed as a “Christopher Guest-style”mock-doc, which begins three months before Devil’s Canyon Marathon, an underfunded local race organised by shoe store owner, Ed Clap. The comedy follows a handful of the many entrants:
Ryan O’Brien missed qualifying for last year’s Boston Marathon by nine seconds. He’s obsessed with everything Boston. This is his year. Or is it?
A foot injury and a testy relationship with the cameraman may be his undoing. Jenna Kowalski is attempting to break the record for fastest marathon time dressed as a fruit, but a new relationship threatens to thwart her efforts. Will she be top banana?
Abby Dozier tried to run a marathon the previous year, but an unexpected pregnancy threw a wrench (or baby) in her plans. Now with a year of motherhood under her belt, she’s ready to run again.
Shareef Washington earnestly wants to complete a marathon to prove his bullying, triathlete sister wrong, but his own training is continually interrupted by overzealous cops suspicious of a Black male runner.
Emilou Paunch quits roughly 30 seconds into her training regime… because she’s a sane, normal person. From there, all aspects of her life (sex, career, health, etc.) get progressively better. Not running the marathon was the best decision Emilou ever made.
Kimia Behpoornia, Tavius Cortez, Andrew Hansen, Roberto Raad, Marc Roberts, Natalie Sullivan, Jimmy Slonina and Anais Thomassian star.
There’s a very short teaser which you can see below — use it as your warm-up then decide for yourself whether Marathon is a pacy sprint or an endurance test that hits the wall when it’s released in the US on digital and on demand July 6 from Gravitas Ventures.