This 24 minute film covers four athletes as they prepare for and compete in the 1978 "Johnstown Marathon". (This marathon has remained much the same now as it was then, a small local event with about 100 participants who run through a very scenic route each October in western Pennsylvania). In this film, director, producer, and editor Steve Alpert, with his crew of six cameras, captures a host of filmmaking techniques to pull together a production that earned him numerous film festival honors, both domestically and internationally. The use of light, close-ups, panning shots, long shots, slow motion, overhead and low angles, gives any viewer a cinematography experience. George Grande is the narrator and the storytelling is woven to tell four distinct stories that transition well between one another. The first half of this movie introduces each of the athletes and during the marathon each runner plays out their own race experience. Here are the "hometown stars" in order of appearance: Sam DiFrancesco is a 45 year old attorney, and family man, who has been running for ten years. He says that he is trying to kick the tranquilizers that he has taken for 26 years and with his self doubts and low self-esteem you wonder if this may catch up to him during the course of the race. He also does not believe in "the wall" that many runners describe at around the 20 mile mark when energy reserves run low. "I've always viewed myself as being a failure. I'm 45 and really what have I done?"; "I think I can go the whole distance. I think I can finish it and I think I can finish it in a respectable time.". Jennifer Amyx, at age 8, is an experienced runner with 55 world records ranging from the mile to the marathon. She runs with her older brother, David (a record holder in his own right), and her father, doctor Herb Amyx, who points out "I guess in a sense they are guinea pigs. Medically, scientifically, you have to say there is not enough data to know what the long term effects in small children are." They are running over 100 miles weeks, as much as two months prior to race day, in preparation for this marathon. "I'd like to beat my best time in the marathon this year and I'd also like to run the 50 miler."; "Because they have been able to achieve at an early age they have a feeling of self worth and they feel good about themselves". Christine "Teeny" Thompson is a nurse and grandmother and at age 53 has decided to run her first marathon. Following a stress test she began increasing her daily 3 mile run by a half mile each week until she reached 50 mile weeks. Her husband, Joe, states "Physically she is a very strong person, mentally an exceptionally strong person, probably stronger physically and mentally than I am."; "Men around my age say I've gone far enough, now don't go any further, you'll hurt yourself, you'll have a heart attack. But I just wave and go on and say ‘well, I haven't filled the quota for today so it'll be a few more miles'."; "I'm determined to finish it. The only way to get me off the course is to drag me off. Once I've started I'm determined to run the whole way.". Kerry Green, at age 24, is an Olympic hopeful and the local paper is predicting him to win the "Johnstown Marathon". He describes his strategy of going out hard and using the hill at 17 miles as a place to make his move if other runners are still in contention. "I think that is the whole thing with life, if you enjoy what you are doing than you can get the maximum at it. And even if it takes a lot of work, and a lot of hard effort, it's still what you enjoy doing, so you can put more effort into it."; "In the background you're thinking: I'm going to put myself through that effort again that will just feel so awful. Am I ready to do that? Are the people around here ready to do that? And you're not sure; you don't know.". To see how these athletes take on their challenges (and the results may not be what you think) you will want to view the rest of this movie yourself. Thankfully, Steve Alpert (sapix@earthlink.net) has taken this film off the shelf and has made it available in VHS format for those who send a payment of $19.95 (includes shipping and handling) to: Steve Alpert, 760 West End Avenue, Usa - New York City, New York 10025 (United States of America).
