Run For Your Life
Yesterday evening, I attended a screening of the new documentary Run For Your Life with Gary Corbitt. Gary is the son of Ted Corbitt. Ted ran the marathon as part the 1952 Olympic team, and was also the first president of the New York Road Runners and was the driving force in bringing accurate course measurement to the USA.
Run For Your Life is a very watchable biography of Fred Lebow, the impresario behind the New York City Marathon. It includes interviews with family members, famous runners, NYRR club officers, and the near-mythical Bob Bright. Also, included is some old footage of races from the 1960's and early 1970's.
The movie traces Mr. Lebow's running from his falling in love with the sport as a back-of-the-pack runner, to his position as arguably the most powerful man in the world of running. It traces the New York City Marathon from its earlier existence as the Cherry Tree Marathon to its first few years in Central Park and on to becoming the first "city tour" marathon, with the creation of the five borough route in 1976.
Among those playing big interview roles were Grete Waitz, the Norwegian track star whose nine New York Marathon wins made her a mega-star; Bill "Boston Billy" Rogers, the four-time winner of both New York and Boston; Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run Boston with a number, and one of the early New York winners; Nina Kuscsik, one of the early stars of women's marathoning; Ted Corbitt, whom I'd described above; Vince Chiapetta, another of the founding fathers of the New York Road Runners; and Bob Bright, the driving force behind the early growth of the Chicago Marathon, who'd dropped out of sight several years ago. Mr. Ehrlich revealed that had resorted to simple low-tech detective work, and one Bob Bright whom they'd called proved to be Mr. Bright's son, who passed on the message to his father.
As a documentary, Run For Your Life provides a lot of insight into Fred Lebow, the man, and his impact on the sport. The question I have to ask myself is, "Would a non-runner be willing or able to stay involved in watching this?" This film is very well crafted, and in a post showing discussion, Judd Ehrlich, the producer and director, revealed that he'd spent time working with Ric Burns. My conclusion is that both fans of the sport of running and New Yorkers will love this film, and almost anyone with a broad and open mind will find it both of interest and enjoyable.
Following the movie, Judd Ehrlich (center), the producer/director; Alison Shurman (right), the film's editor, and Gary Corbitt (left) discussed with the audience the making of the documentary, and talked about some of the personalities appearing in the film.
Also in attendance was Joe Perez, born with cerebral palsy, who went on to run the New York City Marathon under Ted Corbitt's tutelage. Gary Corbitt related the basic story, then Mr. Perez added some additional detail.
I asked the three panelists to pose flanking the movie's poster in the theater lobby.
(Mostly written Saturday evening, and completed early Monday morning. Photos added and captioned Monday evening.)
Run For Your Life is a very watchable biography of Fred Lebow, the impresario behind the New York City Marathon. It includes interviews with family members, famous runners, NYRR club officers, and the near-mythical Bob Bright. Also, included is some old footage of races from the 1960's and early 1970's.
The movie traces Mr. Lebow's running from his falling in love with the sport as a back-of-the-pack runner, to his position as arguably the most powerful man in the world of running. It traces the New York City Marathon from its earlier existence as the Cherry Tree Marathon to its first few years in Central Park and on to becoming the first "city tour" marathon, with the creation of the five borough route in 1976.
Among those playing big interview roles were Grete Waitz, the Norwegian track star whose nine New York Marathon wins made her a mega-star; Bill "Boston Billy" Rogers, the four-time winner of both New York and Boston; Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run Boston with a number, and one of the early New York winners; Nina Kuscsik, one of the early stars of women's marathoning; Ted Corbitt, whom I'd described above; Vince Chiapetta, another of the founding fathers of the New York Road Runners; and Bob Bright, the driving force behind the early growth of the Chicago Marathon, who'd dropped out of sight several years ago. Mr. Ehrlich revealed that had resorted to simple low-tech detective work, and one Bob Bright whom they'd called proved to be Mr. Bright's son, who passed on the message to his father.
As a documentary, Run For Your Life provides a lot of insight into Fred Lebow, the man, and his impact on the sport. The question I have to ask myself is, "Would a non-runner be willing or able to stay involved in watching this?" This film is very well crafted, and in a post showing discussion, Judd Ehrlich, the producer and director, revealed that he'd spent time working with Ric Burns. My conclusion is that both fans of the sport of running and New Yorkers will love this film, and almost anyone with a broad and open mind will find it both of interest and enjoyable.
Following the movie, Judd Ehrlich (center), the producer/director; Alison Shurman (right), the film's editor, and Gary Corbitt (left) discussed with the audience the making of the documentary, and talked about some of the personalities appearing in the film.
Also in attendance was Joe Perez, born with cerebral palsy, who went on to run the New York City Marathon under Ted Corbitt's tutelage. Gary Corbitt related the basic story, then Mr. Perez added some additional detail.
I asked the three panelists to pose flanking the movie's poster in the theater lobby.
(Mostly written Saturday evening, and completed early Monday morning. Photos added and captioned Monday evening.)
Labels: Fred Lebow, Judd Ehrlich, New York City Marathon, Ted Corbitt
posted by Scooter at 8:55 PM
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