If you are the type of person who starts your marathon training by pulling out an atlas and then calling your travel agent, then this video is a must for you. Covering thirty-four events on six continents (only Antarctica is missing), after watching this video you will be reaching for your passport to see if it needs to be renewed. You may even find yourself wanting to join a small group of runners who have ran a marathon on each continent. This 2003 release has a run time of 60 minutes and the events are covered in chronological order with the voice of Spencer Ross providing narration. Often the start and finish are shown, as well as some course maps, event history, size of field, local landmarks, weather conditions, course records, and web site information to learn more. Here are the listings: January: Start the new year with the "Midnight Run", a 4 mile run in New York City complete with costumes and fireworks. February: Elite men compete in Beppu Mainichi (Japan) while there is another small event along the Mediterranean Sea in Valencia (Spain). March: Visit the sights and sounds of the Eternal City in Rome (Italy). April: Large events such as the "Paris marathon", Rotterdam, Boston, London and Nagano are featured, as well as some smaller event such as Turin (Italy), the North Pole, the "Two Oceans ultra" in South Africa, and Big Sur along the Pacific Ocean. May: Race in Wroclaw (Poland), try the largest race in South America in San Paulo (Brazil), or visit Europe for the "Prague International marathon" or the clover leaf course in Vienna (Austria). June: The diversity is great in contrasting the "Rock 'N Roll marathon" in San Diego (Usa/California) to the "Comrades 89K ultra" in South Africa and the 14,000 runners in Stockholm (Sweden). July: Run Negril's famous coastline in the "Reggae marathon" (Jamaica) or go North to Iceland to do the loop course in the world's most Northern capital, Reykjavik. August: Fun times abound for the 2,000 person field in Quebec City (Canada). September: Sydney (Australia), Berlin (Germany), and the "Maui marathon" in Hawaii are all highlighted this month. October: The "Chicago marathon" has been a world record producing course, or shift gears by visiting Amsterdam (Netherlands), the "Ocean State marathon", or "Long Beach marathon" in California. November: The New York City event has two million spectators lining the five boroughs. December: "Run Barbados" in the Caribbean is a low key race compared to the "California International marathon" or the "Honolulu marathon" with 30,000 runners enjoying fireworks at the starting line at 5:30 in the morning. The DVD format is highly recommended since each of the races are indexed, allowing you to select any event with a push of a button. So when you start to plan your next marathon, or hear of a great performance (and want to see more than the three-second news clip from the television) this is the reference you will return to again and again to get a greater feeling of race day. Order your VHS tape or DVD copy from www.sportfilm.com then make sure your seat belt is securely fastened for this running adventure around the world.
