Movie Reviews

A Race for the Soul

Almost four hundred people - 396 precisely - were selected for the start of the "Western States 100" ultra running event by lottery. On June 23, 2001 at 4:20 in the morning their quest begins and so does this 52 minute documentary. Starting as a horse race in 1977, 14 original competitors raced to earn belt buckles for completing the distance. Now, without the horses, men and women test themselves in a quest for the same prize, if they complete the event in under thirty hours. Beyond the start in Squaw Valley (Usa/California), some of the featured checkpoints in this video include: Robinson Flat, Devil's Thumb, Michigan Bluff, Foresthill School, Rucky Chucky, Highway 49 and the finish at Placer High School. You will meet many athletes as they trying to stay in front of the cut off times, maintain their body weight, and keep their feet in condition to keep going. Complete with helicopter footage, athlete interviews, and developing race dynamics, you will get a taste of what will be sacrificed if you dare to run 100 miles that includes 15,500 feet of elevation gain and 23,000 feet of decline. KVIE television offers this tape for sale in both NTSC as well as PAL format if you want to live this adventure again and again. The official "Western States 100" website offers past race results, maps and course information, training and qualifying standards, and applications for the next year's event. Runners featured in this movie include: Scott Jurek, Ann Trason, Tim Twietmeyer, Topher Gaylord, Lucinda Fischer, John & Terry Rhodes, Patti Harden. "These people, every one of them, is setting out on a magnificent experience, that even if they have done it before, it will change their life. I know that the trail and the event has that epicness in it and so few people in our day and age are able to do something epic".

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