All language subtitles for Free.To.Run.2016.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

**

Yeah, I remember
running back here in..

...late 1960s.

I could do a full loop

6 miles around Central Park

and...I might see..

...4, 5 other
runners back then.

That was it.

In the course of a...
an hour run.

And..

I would say I -- I knew
every one of them back then.

And if I didn't
know them by name

I -- I certainly
recognized them.

Said hello to them.

There weren't
many of us and, uh..

We were considered
pretty odd, yeah.

Kind of, kind of weirdos

I would say, at that time.

Sure changed now.

[instrumental music]

-Runners used to be
an eccentric minority.

You know, no -- nobody really
took us seriously.

- I used to go out
at night because

I was embarrassed

ab -- about being
seen in public, running.

[speaking in foreign language]

[music continues]

[dog barking]

-I think we were
looked as odd balls.

We were strangers to, to people.

Seeing people
running down the block

in their underwear,
I guess, you know

and white shorts.

- I once
got stopped by the police

while I was out running
without a shirt in a park

because they thought I was

a, a -- a pervert
of some kind that..

- What's so attractive
about running?

-It's so earthy, you know.

[laughing]

That's a little exaggerated.

But, uh, it's -- it's something
you -- you do all on your own.

You -- you create your run.

Nobody helps you
and nobody hinders you.

Uh, and you're just out there
in the environment

wherever you may be.

And -- and it's just you,
you and the world.

[instrumental music]

- When you run,
you get this pattern

of beautiful forms and colors

the leaves in the forest
and the blue sky

and you're breathing the air

and you just,
you feel alive on this Earth.

And to me,
it was always a miracle.

* Today

* Was a pretty day

* No disappointments

* No expectations
on your whereabouts *

* And oh *

- In the spring when you, when
it's, when you're in the park

and you can smell
the grass growing

and, an -- and then
the buzz and then

in the summer,
I mean, there's nothing

like, uh, running and sweating

and then having
a beer after it, you know.

[music continues]

[speaking in foreign language]

[instrumental music]

- Running was a way
of self-expression.

It was very simple.

You'd almost,
you need no equipment.

We ran, not naked,
but close to it.

And so, it was our equivalent
of going to Woodstock

and listening to music and
doing something quite natural.

Um, so -- some people

express themselves
through music

and some people express
themselves through drugs.

I expressed myself
through running!

[instrumental music]

- One Sunday,
a friend of mine said

"You know, did you ever
run a marathon?"

I had never run more
than a mile or two miles.

And, uh, he said, uh

"Let's go down to
Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx.

"And they have a marathon called

the Cherry Tree Marathon
and we'll run it."

- In the mid 1960s, anyone
who went running outside

the stadium was frowned upon.

Unless they were
a well known athlete.

A city as big as New York
could only bring together

a small group
of running freaks,
who met up every Sunday

to run a marathon through
the streets of the Bronx.

The city's roughest area.

- I started around Yankee
Stadium, around and around

and I said, "Oh, this is easy.

"This is a jog, this is easy.

You know, anybody can do this."

So, I kept going around
and it was cold.

I was freezing cold and, uh,
so I'm running around and around

for -- for 5 miles,
10 miles, I got up

about 15 miles and boom!

I just couldn't
take another step.

And I stopped in front
of a church u -- up in the Bronx

and all the people
were coming out of the church

and, uh, one fellow saw me,
I swear this is true, he saw me

I was, I was so, I was just
frozen up and I was blue

because it was, you know,
in the middle of, uh

in the middle of
the winter time.

He took off his coat,
then he took off his shirt

and he gave me,
he wrapped his shirt around me

and he said, "You can do it,
keep going! Keep going!"

So I took and I kept going.

Well, I -- I went another mile.

I just, oh, well,
I couldn't walk for a week!

-It's a lot of fun to run.

But if you're going
to hasten your death

that's no fun.

Running is the worst thing
in the world you can do

because you're taking the chance

to shorten your life
by 20 to 40 years.

[panting]

- So in those days,
you were seen as

some kind of
masochistic weirdo
if you went road running.

The situation
was even worse for women.

They were not even allowed
to take part

in distance races
of over 800 meters.

And things had been
that way for a long time.

[instrumental music]

- That 1928 women's
800 meters was amazing

from many points of view.

One was that the women,
in reality, ran so well.

The other aspect of it
is that it was misreported

probably with a de -- degree
of deliberate manipulation

by the Olympic Association
that they all collapsed.

-And it told...at the time

uh, there were
11 women in the race.

5 didn't finish

5 collapsed at the finish.

- What actually happened
was that 1 woman

as she crossed the finish line

leant forward and fell over.

Just as runners very often do

at the -- at the finish
of races.

The film footage focuses on that

and makes it look
as if there is devastation.

That was taken as the truth.

Doctors all around
the world said

"Women will harm themselves.

"They shouldn't be doing this.

"They -- they carry
too much fat.

They're -- they're
too emotional."

And the 800 meters

was cut from the Olympic Games

until 1960.

So from 1928 to 1960,
women had nothing

in the Olympic Games longer
for a while than the 100 meters.

* When my baby goes out

* I don't chase her about

* My baby comes home to me.. *

- It was a whole mindset

of the '50s and '60s

that I grew up and they said

"Women weren't capable
of doing it.

"They weren't capable
of going to medical school.

They couldn't have a credit
card in their own name."

- People whispered about

you know, "If you, if you ran
you're gonna get big legs.

"And you're gonna grow
hair on your chest.

"You're gonna turn into a man.

"You're gonna turn into...
maybe something else.

You're never gonna get married,
never have children."

-I was a nurse.

And -- and the tradition was

uh, the saying was
"If -- if you ran too much

your uterus would fall out!"

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

- I didn't understand
that at all, um

because I felt fabulous
whenever I was running.

So I refused
to believe these myths.

And I decided to
play sports, be feminine

and be anything I wanted to be.

[instrumental music]

- Back then,
Kathrine Switzer had no idea

running would play
such a big part in her life.

She was just a typical
American teenager

when her father
first suggested to her

that running would
help her get into shape

and boost her chances
of getting on to

the school's
field hockey team.

-He said,
"All you have to do is

"go and run a mile a day
and you'd be

the best player on that team."

And I said,
"What, a mile a day, dad?

You know, it's like
climbing up Kilimanjaro?"

I began running
this mile every single day

and the most
amazing thing happened.

Every day I ran

I felt so empowered.

I felt like, I -- fearless.

Like I could do anything.

I could conquer the world.

[music continues]

- When Switzer went to college

a few years later in 1965

she soon realized that
there was no provision

for women who wanted to run.

Nonetheless, she hunted down
the track coach

and asked to join
the men's team.

- It was really funny
to see his face

because he kind of
went like this

and he said, "Uh, well, um

"I've been the coach
here for 30 years

"and we've never
had a girl before.

"But I have to tell you it is

"against NCAA rules

to let you run
on the men's team."

- The NCAA was
the federation that ruled

over college athletics
in the USA with an iron fist.

But Switzer
didn't care about that.

Through sheer persistence,
she managed to get accepted

onto the college track team

but they asked her
to train alone

with an elderly coach,
Arnie Briggs.

- Arnie Briggs,
he was a mailman.

And he delivered the mail
in Syracuse, New York

and then he worked out
every afternoon.

And he did this for
one day in his life

that was extremely
special to him.

And that was a day in April
that he ran the Boston Marathon.

And he had run
the Boston Marathon 15 times.

And he would tell me a story.

Everyday it would be another

story about
the Boston Marathon.

[instrumental music]

- The 53rd annual
Boston Marathon

will take place tomorrow.

Over 200 people
will run the 26.2 miles

of this unique marathon.

- Kathrine Switzer had heard so
much about the Boston Marathon

that she ended up asking her
coach if she could run it.

Briggs flatly refused.

- And I said, "Arnie, look

"regardless of what you believe
or you don't believe

"I'm not running
with you any more

"until you believe that a woman

some woman,
can run the marathon distance."

And he says, like this, he says

"If any woman can do it,
I believe you can do it.

"But you would
have to prove it to me.

"In fact,
if you showed me in practice

I'd be the first person
to take you to Boston."

[instrumental music]

- So Kathrine
started training daily.

Gradually increasing
her training time

and distance
until she could run

the full 26.4 miles

of a marathon without a break.

One year earlier, another girl

living thousands
of kilometers away

had exactly the same idea.

- And I wrote
for my application blank

and I got a letter
back from Will Cloney

who was the race director
and it said

"Women are not physiologically

"able to run 26 miles

"and furthermore,
under the rules

"of the Amateur Athletic Union

"they're not allowed to run

more than a mile
and a half competitively."

But I convinced my mother
to drive me to the start.

At first, she thought
I was nuts

so I said,
"Mom, it's not just for me

"it's for all women,
don't you see?

"You know, this is a little
chink in the armor.

This is an opportunity
to change things."

- Running without
an official race number

Bobbi Gibb chose
to blend in discreetly

with the pack

and she kept a low profile.

The following year in 1967

the situation was
very different
for Kathrine Switzer.

-You know, I signed
my name KV Switzer.

That's something I started doing

when I was in high school

and because my name
was misspelled

and on my birth certificate
and when the entry went in

with Arnie's and -- and
other team members

um, they thought
it was from a guy.

[instrumental music]

When we got to Boston,
it was snowing

and sleeting all the way into
Boston the night before.

And the morning of the race
it was really coming down.

So, as we all moved
to the start line together

you know, there I was
in a baggy grey sweat suit

looking like hundreds
of other people.

[gunshot]

- Wearing her official race bib

Kathrine Switzer
ran between Arnie

her coach
and her boyfriend Tom.

- Then we got to about
the 2 mile mark

in the race and a ve -- very
strange thing happened.

The press truck came by us.

- There happened to be 3
runners running alongside.

1, 111.

And the middle
of the 3 runners

the middle one took
the hood off..

...off her head, off the head

and we..
And I said, it was a woman!

- On this bus
were the two race directors.

A guy by the name
of Will Cloney

and a guy by the name
of Jock Semple.

-Now, one of the writers said

"Jock, there's
a woman in your race!"

Jock looked..
"Stop the bus, stop the bus!"

- I heard behind me shoes,
leather shoes

sounded, you know, scraping
and they were going fast.

And all of a sudden
I turned, like you'd turn

like, when you hear
a dog chasing you.

At the last minute

and Jock Semple
grabbed me like this.

[instrumental music]

He grabbed me by the shirt

and threw me back
and he screamed

"Get the hell out of my race
and give me those numbers!"

and went to try to
pull off my bib number.

And I pulled back like that.

All of a sudden,
Tom, he threw a shoulder block

into Jock Semple

and I thought...that I saw

Jock go through the air.

For a split second I thought

"Should I, should I
step off the course?"

And the journalists
were asking these
very aggressive questions

like "What are you
trying to prove?"

You know,
"Are -- are you a suffragette?

Are you a crusader?"

Oh, and, you know, I'm thinking

"I -- I just wanna run here.

What's -- what is this
all about?"

- Despite everything,
Kathrine Switzer managed

to complete the 26.4 miles

and finish the race.

But a few days later,
she received a letter from

the organizers
of the Boston Marathon

telling her that
she had been disqualified

and banned
for life from the AAU.

The American
Athletics Federation.

- That was my first big brush

with discrimination.

And it opened my eyes a lot.

And I thought, you know

you've always been
taught to be responsible

to finish what you start.

And it's gonna be
my responsibility now

to try to give
other women this opportunity.

To tell them how wonderful
this running can be.

And I didn't know
how I was going to do it

but when I
crossed the finish line

I knew that that
was a life plan.

[instrumental music]

[indistinct shouting]

-You can be somebody's wife,
you can be somebody's mother

you can be somebody's lover.

You can be somebody's anything
but you can't be somebody!

* Yesterday

* Any way you made it
was just fine *

- Women, black people,
Puerto Ricans

Mexicans and all the minorities

all of us must stand up together

and say, "No more."

* Didn't you know

* You can't make it

* Without ever even trying

* And something's
on your mind isn't it? *

* Let these times

* Show you that
you're breaking up the lines *

* Leaving all your dreams
too far.. **

-We're gonna talk now about
the exquisite, exquisite agony

of the marathon runner.

Uh, Kathy Switzer is here.

Kathy was just -- just
to set the stage

she was the first woman ever
to run in the Boston marathon.

She did it illegally
at the start.

- In the years
following her participation

in the Boston Marathon,
Switzer became

the toast of the US media.

Her story went
around the world

eventually
reaching Switzerland

and the ears of
a certain Noel Tamini.

[speaking in foreign language]

- In Switzerland,
as elsewhere,
women were banned

from taking part in road races

by the athletics federation.

But Tamini managed
to persuade Kathrine Switzer

to come and take part
in the Morat-Fribourg race.

A European version
of the Boston Marathon.

Only even more inflexible.

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[men shouting]

[gunshot]

- I knew the situation
in Switzerland

for women wasn't terrific

because I mean, I believe
women couldn't even vote..

...in Switzerland at the time.

It was something
that really appalled me.

[instrumental music]

- This time, Kathrine
completed the race unhindered

but wearing
a fake race number.

So once again
running incognito.

From Switzerland,
she dashed off

a postcard to a girl friend.

"Dear Suzy, here in Europe

"everything's going
wonderfully.

"Though, I'm sorry
to say that here too

I'm the only woman runner."

[music continues]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[crowd cheering]

[speaking in foreign language]

- "Spiridon" is the name
Noel Tamini chose

for the international
running magazine

he started in Switzerland
around the same time.

The magazine was produced
on a shoestring

and from
the very beginning campaigned

for the rights of all runners

and foremost the rights
of women runners.

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

As well as campaigning,
"Spiridon" conveyed

a whole new
philosophy of running.

An ascetic, mystical

"Back to nature"
ethos of sports.

[music continues]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

- Noel had a, had a particular

in a way genius.

His pictures were
terrific, you know

I, uh, I -- I haven't seen

those kinds of pictures
since then, you know.

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[helicopter whirring]

- Meanwhile, in New York

the lives of
the Bronx marathon freaks
changed when one day

a funny little guy

no one had even
seen before showed up.

He went by the name
of Fred Lebow.

And he wasn't much of
a runner.

[instrumental music]

- He was totally,
uh, new to us.

He wasn't the fastest guy.

He -- he had
a sort of a shuffle.

- Everybody who ran
was serious.

Nobody jogged and, uh

people were suspicious
of him at first.

They'd say,
"Who is he? Who's this person?

"We -- we don't even
know who he is.

"He's not one of the

the die-hard runners,
you know."

-I -- I don't know,
he was a strange sort of guy.

Uh, I -- I think
he liked my wife.

Uh, I know he liked my wife!

He'd run after
every girl in town!

- Fred came from
a different background.

He came from

the fashion industry

in New York City.

Which is very fancy

and slick and,
uh, business like.

And he had come
to New York from, uh, Romania

and then he spent time
in Dublin, Ireland

and then he came here.

Uh, and he was
very successful.

-Fred at heart was a promoter.

- He said, "Listen, the sport
is not going to be popular.

If we stay here in the Bronx."

-I don't know why,
but he wanted to make it grow.

- "I'm going to s -- suggest
that we go down to Manhattan

and we have
it in Central Park."

Well, people said,
"Oh, that's ridiculous!

"You know, Central Park!

"You know, wait, how can you
run in Central Park?

Nobody ever
ran in Central Park."

-We were happy
running just, uh

every Sunday,
meeting with people

and running races and, uh

making it bigger, huh!

That didn't,
uh, that wasn't my concern.

[instrumental music]

- Lebow nagged them until
he succeeded in getting

the marathon moved from
the Bronx to Central Park

in the heart of Manhattan.

A massive change, but perhaps
less so than it seemed.

- It was basically
a nothing race.

Not many runners,
not very well organized

in, in terms of water
and other things.

Uh..

...old fashioned running.

- I mean, it was just
on the schedule and

I had worked the night before
and we had 3 children

and, um, I think my wife just
wanted to get out of the house.

But, uh, yeah, it was a very
lucky, lucky day for me.

You know,
no matter what happens

I won the 1st
New York City Marathon.

- For several years,
the New York Marathon was held

in Central Park, in these very
amateurish conditions.

Then came 1972.

- Frank Shorter appears to be
running to victory

winning an unexpected
gold medal for the USA.

It's incredible.

He seems to be just
jogging in the streets.

-That was, uh, definitely a,
a game changer

for, for marathon running
in this country

or long distance running
in general.

- I think Shorter
really appealed
to the American public

because he made it
look so beautiful.

I won't say easy,
but, uh, but he made it look

he made it look like poetry
and this was a sport

that, until then,
its image had been suffering

grimacing, exhaustion, collapse

something that was dangerous.

That really ignited
both the running movement
as a whole

but most specifically,
the marathon.

Suddenly Americans
wanted to run the marathon.

- For the bicentennial of
the United States of America

the annual marathon race
organized by the New York

Road Runners Club with its
usual setting in Central Park

and take to the streets
of the city's 5 boroughs.

-We all loved Boston so much
because it was in the streets.

And Fred said "We could do
that in New York"

and everybody thought
it would be impossible.

-"Say what? Say when, how?"

Well, and -- and I think
there was a tremendous amount

of kind of skepticism that
you could actually run a race

through 5 boroughs and have
runners go from start to finish

without some kind of
catastrophic event happening.

[intense music]

- At that time the city was in
decline because financially

in crime, and it wasn't,
wasn't a good time
for the city.

- New York City,
for months, it teeters

on the brink of bankruptcy.

-We are facing up
to the financial crisis

confronting
this city and the state.

-That was the payroll,
we don't get the -- the check
for the day

we don't get nothing.

Don't ask me about the people
with -- with children and

the thing is.. I -- I don't even
know what..

- People had, were in despair,
you know.

Their -- their moral was low

and, uh, he said, "Oh, listen!

"We'll run through the streets.
We'll lift the whole world up.

We'll lift up New York City."

But Fred Lebow knew
that merely running
through the streets

of New York wouldn't be enough
to put his marathon
on the map.

Despite the limited means
at his disposals

he somehow managed to get
the 2 stars of US running

the Olympic gold medalist,
Frank Shorter

and the US record holder
Bill Rodgers

to take part and provide
the necessary glitter.

-He knew that..

...he needed
to get Frank Shorter.

Frank Shorter was the 1 runner
that everybody knew

he was beyond the sport.

-I've always maintained one of
the reasons I told Fred Lebow

that I would come
run in the race was

I had to see for myself
that they could

close down streets in 5 boroughs

in New York City...uh,
on a Sunday.

[instrumental music]

[crowd cheering]

- It was like a dream
unfolding to see

runners come off the bridge
and go through Brooklyn.

- The Hasidic Jew population
came out of the synagogues

standing on the sidewalk,
and they were just..

Y -- you know..

And that's when I realized
it was going to work.

I did.

[music continues]

- Everybody saw this.

When it was just a marathon

in Central Park not too many
people watched and they could

just say to themselves "Crazy
runners taking up the park!"

Now it was out on the streets
and you see it.

It's just so inspiring
to see a marathon

to see that first runner
coming in, looking so small

and then he passes you
and you realize

how fast he's running.

It's a tremendous statement
about human spirit.

And it makes you want to do
it too. Lebow knew this.

-385 yards. No one was mugged.

No one was hit by a taxi.

And city of New York
and Bill Rodgers

the marathon
was a resounding success.

Dick Schaap, NBC NEWS,
in Central Park.

- And it lifted the city,
it united the city

you know,
because each borough, you know

and it gave people hope.

And, uh, before you know it..

...everything started to get
better, you know and financially

it wasn't the only reason,
but it was part of it.

- I did have that perspective
of seeing this detached

in a way that I'm..

...I'm watching...
a -- a miracle happen.

[music continues]

-Oh, yeah.

The Central Park, uh,
in many ways is a legend

you know,
to the, to the sport.

This park here
around the reservoir

was not used for running
before that, hardly at all.

In the 1970s there was crime,
it was, it was dangerous

you wouldn't walk in the park,
you wouldn't walk in here.

- I'm not a track coach
but I just figured out

how she can break,
Kathrine can break 3 hours.

-How?

-You run alone
in Central Park at night!

[laughing]

-And then as the runners came,
the, the crime

and all, all the other problems
disappeared.

And then the politicians
and people said

"Well, let's, let's
re -- rejuvenate the park.

Let's put some money into it.
Let -- let's make it better."

[instrumental music]

- On most days when you ran,
it was so crowded.

Sometimes you could
hardly move.

And on the reservoir
or on the street

you would routinely pass

Jackie Onassis, Robert Redford

Dustin Hoffman, uh,
famous people running

in the same grubby shorts
and T-shirt.

- Why are 10-15,
20 million Americans out

jogging and running
these days?

-Well, I think they're
getting smart finally.

-Well, it used to be,
people used to run

only for competition, or because
they had to, in gym classes

or whatever, and now people
are understanding that

not only is running for fitness,
running can be fun.

-Um...I just want to get
the body back into shape.

- How does it feel?
-It just feels terrific.

It doesn't feel so good
when I am going around..

...but it feels great
when I'm finished.

-Take a person like me..

When I was 35 years old

I weighed 15 or 16 stones.

I smoked 40 or 50
cigarettes a day.

I drank too much.

I started running and
it was as if I were operating

a time machine in reverse,
suddenly I felt better

than I had felt
probably in 20 years

and now, at the age of 46
I'm sure I feel as good as

I felt when I was
15 or 16 years old.

[speaking in foreign language]

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

- Some are grandparents,
some are grandchildren.

Some are fast,
some are not so fast.

Nevertheless they all
share 1 goal

to get to the finish line
in Central Park

and to make that journey
as painless

and enjoyable as possible.

- Fred was among the 1st,
I have to say

if not the 1st,
who began to see

uh, the benefit of doing this

uh, over and above
accomplishment.

What he did, is he set the
stage for that and he created

an atmosphere that
was very welcoming to people

who just wanted
to participate.

Where the great benefit of
sports is to be with others.

And that's the beauty of
the marathon, you start together

you start with
the best, you know

you race with them
and you finish.

- He had a wonderful analogy
for what was appealing

about the marathon.

And that was,
"We all wanna be on the stage.

"Not everyone can be a champion,
an Olympic athlete

"a performer on a Broadway
stage, but for that 1 day

"you're on your own stage,
26.2 miles.

And you're doing it, by
the power of your own 2 feet."

[instrumental music]

- Inspired by the New York City
Marathon

people everywhere
took up running.

In Europe, the magazine
"Spiridon" grew into a massive

grassroots movement
that swept the continent.

Noel Tamini and his friends
had grasped that the desire

to run free was catching.

Their example and their
impassioned style spawned

new races here,
there and everywhere.

The orange "Spiridon" running
shirts started appearing

all over
with the famous slogan
"Run With Us."

[speaking in foreign language]

- Because despite appearances,
people were still

by no means
totally free to run.

And the athletics federations
continued to impose

their outdated rules
on road races and runners.

But not for much longer.

Revolt was in the air.

In Europe, it was epitomized
by the Marvejols-Mende
road race

a half-marathon that had
originated in the heart

of the French countryside,
a wildcat event

maintained despite
being banned

by the National Athletics
Federation.

[instrumental music]

[speaking in foreign language]

- As long as only a handful
of eccentrics wanted to run

road races,
the federations and
the athletics establishment

had more or less turned
a blind eye to them.

But with the movement growing,
much more was at stake.

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

- Road runners were not
the only ones butting heads

with the governing bodies.

Track runners also
had to remain amateurs

if they wanted to take part
in the Olympic games.

In the USA,
where they were not allowed
to earn a single cent

from their sport, on pain
of being disqualified for life

the situation was dire
for leading athletes.

But they gritted their teeth
and submitted to

the federations' bullying.

All that changed
when Steve Prefontaine

burst on to the scene.

-Well, I think there's gonna
have to be a reworking

of the whole amateur athlete
as a whole.

Um, there's a lot of things that
I think that should be changed.

I don't think that we have time
to go in -- in them all

because I could talk probably
for a couple of hours on 'em.

- Pre, uh, was the

was the champion
of runners' rights.

He wanted equality for runners.

Every other athlete
in the world got paid

for doing their sport,
runners did not.

And he thought that that was
this huge injustice.

[instrumental music]

- But Prefontaine was not just
a powerful spokesperson

he was first and foremost

an exceptionally
talented runner.

At just 21, he already
had a 2 year unbeaten run

and held all
the US track records

from 2000 to 10,000 meters.

[instrumental music]

- Steve Prefontaine was maybe

the most exciting athlete
I've ever seen.

He had a ferocity that
was just in his personality

and in his eyes, and in his,
in his actions

and in his attitude
that I've never seen anywhere.

-Michael Jordan,
Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods

there is something that whatever
they have, Pre had it.

- A performer,
he was a performer.

There was no question..
no doubt.

People were louder for him.

More people connected with him
than with anyone who would come

before then and as it turns out,
anyone who's come since.

- The combination
of his track success

his charisma and his
outspokenness made Prefontaine

the people's champion.

Crowds went wild for him

especially on his home track

in Eugene, Oregon, where his
appearances sparked hysteria.

[gunshot]

- Prefontaine in
a surprise move there.

He said he didn't enter
this race to be second!

[audience chanting]

[instrumental music]

- Season after season,
ever bigger crowds flocked

to see Prefontaine win,
generating colossal revenues..

...but not for Pre himself.

To remain an amateur,
he had to scrape by and live

in a trailer while others
cashed in on his performances.

-I'd like to possibly go
to the '76 Games

if financially possible, um

but right now, I'm just
kinda floating along and..

- The workers
were getting peanuts

and the director was, uh

making, uh, reasonable money

for himself
and for the federation..

...and it didn't feel good.

It didn't feel good at all,
it felt like slavery.

-Running doesn't
pay your bills.

Uh, you've, you have gotta
make a -- a lot of sacrifices

uh, to be an amateur sport
in this country

considering it's so
professionally oriented.

-He was a consummate,
uh, spokesperson

for the sport of running,
not just Prefontaine

and who am I, but he was, he
reached out and the AAU battle

started right away, because
here's a guy who was not

gonna follow the old archaic

out-of-touch rules
of the old governing body.

- In his campaign for a better
deal for runners

Prefontaine soon found
support in the shape
of a small running

shoe company
that had just started up

in his home state of Oregon.

As soon as he was out of
college, they recruited him

to help with
their PR operations.

- The image of Prefontaine
as a rebel, as running free

with his long shaggy hair
and his big moustache

and kind of fighting
the establishment.

I mean, that was,
that was there, that was..

...true, I think to an extent.

And then Nike..

...as a small company,
uh, embraced this.

- The company was small,
there may have been

less than 15 people.

I don't know,
I don't remember, very small.

-The first logo that we came
out with was a script logo

and you know, a script,
lower case script logo

and the, and the beginning of
the N had a

had a little lead into it

which looked like another leg
and it looked like

an M as much as it did an N

and so a lot of people
misread it

and asked that very question,
"Who is Mike?"

-It was youthful.

It was, uh, kind of carefree

because you didn't worry
about too much.

Everybody was involved
with running

in 1 way or another.

We were trying to do anything
we could to help the sport get

better and I mean,
put on a road race, um

battle the governing bodies

support Pre, whatever it was

the collectiveness
of that added value

big time to the running boom.

- So Prefontaine was able
to count on Nike's help when

in 1975, he decided to take
matters into his own hands

and organized the very first
competitive athletics circuit

set up by athletes
for athletes.

Overt challenge to
the Amateur Athletic Union

which had always
forbidden athletes

from competing
in unofficial events.

And to make sure
it was a success

Pre also invited Finland's
leading runners

to come to the USA.

-The athletes have enough
hassles without being

uh, uh, told what to do,
when and where and

and throwing in new rules now
and then to, to, uh

benefit themselves
instead of the athletes.

- You know, at the end of
the day the most important

thing you get out of all this
international competition

is the friendships.

These are our friends, this is,
here's where we are

this is really cool,
come see this

we wanna share this with you.

That was the atmosphere, um,
for these competitions.

- Pre's independent circuit
came to a triumphant end

on May 29, 1975 in Eugene.

Pre won the 5000 meters
ahead of his friend

Olympic medal-winning marathon
runner Frank Shorter

and was already planning
the next step

in this struggle
for athletes independence.

- He was willing to, uh,
go to the mat
with those people

and did,
and, uh, he stood up to them.

He was a rebel.

But he was always
fighting for the

the cause of the athletes.

And putting himself
at risk sometimes.

-Until today,
Steve Prefontaine was ahead

of everyone in this country
as a long-distance runner.

He held the American records
in the 3000 meter, the 2 mile

the 3 mile, the 5000 meter,
the 6 mile

and the 10,000 meter races.

Early today, his sports car
jumped a curb

on an Oregon highway
and flipped over.

He was alone,
and he was killed. He was 24.

-Never a shock...as it is
possible for me to ever again

anything like that now.

His incredible...
life just gone.

-He was our glory
and we were his.

And it's up to us now
to hold in mind clearly..

...to remember him
as he touched us

and infuriated us
and challenged us.

Time holds him..

...green and dying..

...though he sang
in his chains
like the sea.

-I was lost
in my own thoughts.

I was lost in my own thoughts.

Um..

I don't know.

-At the end of it, these
various people, uh, you know

talked about him and then, um

you know, now we'll have
a moment of silence and picture

him running his last lap of what
would have been a world record.

And..

Yeah, you...uh, it

it was a pretty,
pretty emotional day.

[audience applauds]

- As we all know, part of what

caused that revolution

in road running,
was Prefontaine.

His standing up to the AAU

was the first part of it

but the second part was

his death really caused people

to assess what was important

and to them it was freedom

and being able to make
a living doing
what you love to do.

You know, having somebody
who was the most famous person

in American track and field..

...take a stand,
made it easier

in the years to come
for others to do the same.

-Bill Rodgers, the best
marathon runner in the country

proved that again today
by wining the Boston Marathon

for the third time,
even broke his own record

today he ran 2 hours,
9 minutes and 27 seconds

- We all wanted to be
professionals.

We wanted to be respected
like other athletes

or anyone in America
who had a job

gets paid for it, you know.

Or anywhere in the world, if
you're good at it, you're paid

so why were we so different?

And we didn't feel we were.

-The hundreds of thousands
of people who will watch

the New York marathon
run a week from Sunday

will watch a race exploding

in controversy,
more from Reggie Harris.

- Next weekend more than 16,000
runners will participate

in the New York City Marathon.

Technically all of them
are amateur athletes

and amateur runs for
competition not for money.

But the New York Times
reports coaches
of some top marathoners

say under the table
prize money is being offered

to get big name runners
to show up.

That would violate rules

of the International Amateur
Athletic Federation

or IAAF which sanctions
the New York City Marathon

and if prize money
is being paid

it would jeopardize
the amateur status
of many athletes

who hope to compete
in the 1984 Olympics.

The New York Road Runners Club
Fred Lebow

declined to confirm or deny

the Times' allegations,
but he says it's time

for marathoners
to win big prize money.

-I, I believe a -- a runner
like Bill Rodgers

who, uh, uh,
who trains twice a day

uh, every single day of the year

is as much an athlete
as a Reggie Jackson.

-Uh, Fred Lebow was paying
runners from the start

at the New York City Marathon.

Uh, not openly
but they were getting paid.

-There's been a lot of dispute
about under the

under-the-table payments for
these so called world class.

Do they get paid?

-Well, I'm not, we're not
going to ignore this situation

uh, but this has been going on
for a long time

in track and field, whether
runners get paid or not.

It's a subject that's under very
deep discussion right now

within the Athletic Congress

and the world bodies
on this subject.

- They could lose their amateur
sta -- standing, that's right?

-That's right
and we wouldn't do anything

that would jeopardize
their eligibility

to compete internationally.

-I understand that.

- I hope you're not paying
for anyone.

That's what the -- the maj..
Hope you're not.

Oh, he said, "No, no,
I would never do that.

I never pay for any.."

Meanwhile,
he was paying everybody.

And they.. They said, "I hope
you're not giving away

all the money.
This is supposed to be.."

"Oh, not at all, no,
I would never do that."

Meanwhile, all these people
started appearing

from all around the world.

Everywhere, Australia, Japan,
Europe, France

oh, my God,
they -- they all were coming.

- In the late 1970s,
the practice of making

under-the-table payments
to top athletes

became commonplace
in the road-race community

whose members were
the first to raise
their voices

against the federation's
hypocritical attitude.

The farsighted Fred Lebow
who had never been afraid

to be provocative

decided it was time
to clear the air.

He wrote a book that openly
referred to those payments.

- "The total prize money
we paid over the years

"to the highest
finishers in New York

reached a million dollars."

- New York mayor, Edward Koch

gave the road runners
a new deal.

For every dollar
the club now spends

on appearance fees
and prize money

it must also give
a dollar to the city.

In effect, the publication
of Lebow's book

may have cost the road runners
more than $300,000 this year.

-Uh, in retrospect, I

if I knew
the ruckus it would cause

I would have not published
the book in the first place.

It turned out as the most
expensive book ever published.

- We paid millions of dollars
to the city

for the police protection

um, for 26 miles.

But that -- that's been going on
for some years

although those fees
have been going up.

- Nowadays, running
has become a race

just as much for money
as for glory.

In Chicago today,
the winners of the marathon

got $45,000 each!

-Early '80s,
they were saying..

"We don't care about your rules,
we're gonna take

we're gonna give money
and take money."

And, uh, and they, th -- they
threw down the challenge

and the, the amateur officials
couldn't answer it.

And before, before long

the -- the entire sport
was open to

whatever you can get, take it.

[guitar music]

- Male track-and-road champions
were not the only ones

to throw off their shackles
at the end of the '70s.

Women had also
gradually won the right

to run on roads alongside men.

But there were still
far fewer women than men

running in races

until Kathrine Switzer
heard of a madcap scheme

proposed by
a major cosmetics firm

to create a women-only
international

running race circuit.

-Wow, this will be the avenue
to get women into running.

Not saying, "Hey, come join us
in the marathon

"where there are 2 women
and there are 800 men

"because you're gonna feel slow
and -- and -- and not welcome.

Come in a women's-only race."

[instrumental music]

- More than 400 runners

competed in the first
all-female 15-kilometer run

in Arizona this morning.

- 650 women setting out to do

what was once considered
the impossible.

- More than a 1000 women
compete in a half-marathon.

- I don't think we've even seen
the tip of the iceberg.

It's, it's really incredible.

[music continues]

- We had to overcome
centuries of beliefs

that women have
inherent weakness

and passivity
as Aristotle said.

And it's been really all those
years to make a -- a change

a cultural revolution,
a social revolution.

And I say, "We need
an intellectual one as well."

- It was just an amazing feel
to give that back

to so many women
around the country

and really, around the world.

[speaking in foreign language]

- They were so poor that they'd
never had anybody that said

that they could be somebody.

And when they finished
a 5K race or a 10K race

and we gave them
a T-shirt and a medal

and a lipstick gift...and said

"You are somebody,"
they-they understood

this sense of empowerment
and fearlessness

and they really, really...
changed their lives completely.

[instrumental music]

- You know, whether she made
the best time or what

for her it's an improvement,
and that's what counts.

I just, uh, would like to thank
'em for the opportunity.

I think it's a fantastic thing.

- It became phenomenally good
for the corporation

because they were getting
very excellent publicity

doing something
that was unusual

in capturing
the public imagination.

And everybody agreed
that women did deserve

an opportunity in the Olympics.

[music continues]

- It's gonna be
a new world record

for Grete Waitz!

- Perhaps the greatest marathon
ever run, Joan Benoit!

- Every year,
the women's marathon time
keeps going down.

In 10 years, it has dropped
almost 45 minutes.

This was the first year
in more than 10 years

that the men's record
has dropped

and that was just
by a few seconds.

- In the early '80s

1500 meters was still
the longest distance

the International
Athletic Federation

would sanction
for a women's race.

And although
women were now free to run

many people were still
prejudiced against the idea

of women running
long distances
in the Olympic Games

even more so,
for the marathon.

[speaking in foreign language]

-Yeah. Yeah,
that's what we need.

-Marathon
in the Olympic Games!
- Yeah.

[instrumental music]

- In 1980, 4 years before
the Los Angeles Olympics

Kathrine Switzer
cleverly chose

to hold her circuit's
annual marathon in London

where the International
Federation, the IAAF

had its headquarters.

- A sunny,
warm day dawns in London

for the 3rd annual
Avon Women's
International Marathon.

This is a turning point
for women's running.

The representation of 27
countries at the starting line

now surpasses
the International Olympic
Committee's requirements

for a new event.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

- We had excellent performances

we had...
incredible media coverage

we had the endorsement
of the IAAF.

And the IAAF then made
a recommendation to the IOC

to get the women's marathon
in the Olympic Games.

I remember
when Monique Berlioux stood up

and made the announcement.

She said, um

"This was not an easy decision

but it was
a very important decision."

And I turned to my, my friend
who was in the audience with me

and I said

"Nobody's gonna understand
how important this moment is

"until the first woman
comes through that tunnel

and into the Olympic stadium."

[instrumental music]

- Joan Benoit
is running in a direction

away from
the rest of the pack as well.

- You know, Al,
people speculated

that it would either be
a tactical race

or that Joan Benoit was gonna

eventually take it out
very hard.

And here she is.
It looks like she's gonna
make her move really early.

[music continues]

- You know, when it came time
for the Los Angeles Olympics

um, ABC asked me
to be a commentator

for the women's marathon.

[crowd cheering]

- Right now anticipating

the imminent arrival
of Joan Benoit

as she gets into
some welcome shade

and then very surely,
out again into
that sunlight once again.

- I was trying at this point
n -- not to get emotional.

I was trying to be
very, very calm.

And as she entered the tunnel,
Al Michaels turned to all of us

and he went..

[no audio]

"Let the crowd take it."

[indistinct chattering]

[crowd cheering]

[instrumental music]

To me, that moment was,
was as important

as giving women
the right to vote

because it represented
the physical equivalent

of total acceptance
into society

and that people around the world

not just those 90,000 people
in that Olympic stadium

but people around the world,
in their millions

were watching on television

and realized
that somebody had just run

26 miles, 385 yards, 42.2 km

the most difficult event
in the Olympic Games

and run it with heroic courage
and grace and speed.

And it changed forever
people's attitudes

about what women's capability
was all about.

- A dramatic step forward
for women in sports

for women athletes
all around the world

indeed, for women in general.

It attracted the attention

of, literally,
hundreds of women's groups.

How much does
that particular historic fact

have to do with the degree
of elation you feel right now?

-Well, again, Jim,
I don't think it's set in

and as I said earlier,
there are so many people

I have to thank, uh,
this marathon for.

If it hadn't been for the work

of countless women pioneers
in this sport

we wouldn't be here today.

And let's hope that in 1988

we can also run a 5 and 10K

because we showed today
that women can be

very competitive
over this distance.

- We were just wrapping up
our coverage

and just about ending
this show

and I was feeling,
you know, relieved

when all of a sudden

out of the tunnel
and into the stadium came

the very,
very crippled-over image

uh, figure
of Gabriela Andersen-Schiess

from Switzerland.

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[crowd cheering]

[speaking in foreign language]

And I thought, "Oh, no.

Oh, no, uh,
this can't be happening."

Because they're going
to make a media frenzy

of a woman
in a distressed condition.

So, when she finished
and was carted off

I just sort of
left the studio thinking

"I don't know
what's gonna happen now
with the women's marathon."

- Still on
the Los Angeles Olympics

we've had an update
on the health
of Gabriela Andersen-Scheiss

the female marathon runner
who touched hearts everywhere

the day before yesterday

when she finished
the race in a state
of total exhaustion.

And it's good news!

It seems she was just
severely dehydrated

and has made
a very quick recovery.

In fact, she's already
back in training.

-Afterwards, uh,
my husband, Roger Robinson, uh

wrote one
of the best statements about it.

He said, "One of the most
amazing things

"about the 1984
Women's Olympic Marathon

"the inaugural, was

"it allowed women

to be exhausted in public."

Maybe that's what
equality is also all about.

[helicopter droning]

- Today,
the New York City Marathon

has become
the world's most famous race.

And this Sunday,
24,000 lucky people

will have
the opportunity to run

its 26.4 miles

a challenging distance
for any level.

- Even in the height of what
we would call the running boom

the early running boom,
the first running boom

Fred used to say,
"This is nothing.

This is nothing. Just watch."

[instrumental music]

- Fred really wanted the whole
world of running to grow

and the New York Road Runners

to be a leader in that.

And so bigger was always better.

- When I read that there are
34 million Americans

who run or jog

I wondered where the rest
of the 60 million are

that should be running

or at least race-walking.

-New York suddenly realized
they had this, this event

that was bringing money in for
the city on an economic basis

which they had
never really dreamed about.

-And other cities started
seeing that this was happening

and along came

London, Chicago

Los Angeles, Honolulu.

[instrumental music]

[speaking in foreign language]

- In the 1990s,
cities throughout the world

understood that there was
big money to be made

from organizing marathons

even though New York remained,
by far, the most glamorous.

-I happen to think, uh,
that New York City's
very special

and I'm proud
that it is the, uh

marathon, uh,
capital of the world now.

-Many marathons around
the world have copied

much of what we are doing

from bar codes
to, to computer scanning

to, uh, uh

timing and scoring devices

uh, but the one thing that
no marathon in the country

or the world can match

is the vitality of this city.

-He would have
these plans in his mind

that it would be
increasing the sponsorship

increasing the number
of people who could run.

- He said, "Look,
I want every runner here

"who comes to this marathon
to have the best experience.

"I wanna make sure
they have a cover

"I wanna make sure
they get the, the food.

"I wanna make sure
they have, uh

that they're taken care of
in every way." You know?

-"Oh, well,
let's have coffee and donuts

at the starting line."

"But, Fred, that's not
a healthy thing to do."

[laughs]

"But they'll love it!"

- "We'll have the race,
uh, uh, on Wall Street."

"Wall Street? How can
you have a race there?"

Then he got the back,
going-backwards race

people running backwards.

-Press agents
were out in force

at the Empire State Building

staging a publicity stunt
so silly

but we decided to cover it.

-"Let's run up
the Empire State Building!"

[laughs]

What, what, what a great idea
it turned out to be

but at the time..

- They'd given people
jingle bells

so that they can make noise
when they run.

And people are dressed
in Santa Claus outfits

and reindeer
and they have antlers on.

A-and..

And I'm going, "W -- what
happened to my sport?"

[dogs barking]

- What next?

-There's just
a lot more to do.

[instrumental music]

- Nobody is indispensable

but as far as
the marathon is concerned

Lebow comes as close
to being indispensable

as anybody.

- He was like the Pied Piper.

You know, the,
the story of the Pied Piper

who plays his flute
and the rest of us follow.

Those were his workers,
but those were also
the runners

and the other people
who took advantage

of the events he put on.

They loved what he built

and so, that was his gift

that he could bring us all
into his vision..

...and that he could create
from his vision

an event that appealed
to millions of people

whether you ran
or whether you watched.

That was Fred's genius.

[instrumental music]

* Run

* Run and you'll be thinner

* Run to give
your heart a thrill *

* Run

* Run to be a winner

* Not just run-of-the-mill

* Keep up the pace
and we promise *

* You'll hit new highs

* Stay in the race

* And your spirit's will rise

* Rise rise

* Run *

-Well, I sure hope you like

our new, uh,
award ceremony program.

It surprised me.

- I was at the dinner.
It was a big dinner.

You know, you used to have
the big dinner for awards,
you know?

And, uh, he, uh,
got up to speak.

And up to that point
there was nothing, you know

I mean, he was fine, you know?

And he got up to speak

and right in the middle
of his speech

he stopped talking.

You know, he forgot
what to, what to say

you know, he, which he
never did, you know, ever.

I was concerned about it, so I
sent him, actually, on my own

right the next day
up to my hospital

to get an MRI of the brain.

And that's when the, you know,
the tumor was there.

Right away we detected it,
you know, almost immediately.

-Um, he had
a kind of brain tru -- tumor

that you can extend your life,
but nobody recovers from this.

It's still one of
the le -- most lethal forms

of, of cancer.

But Fred
never saw things that way.

- I would go see him.
I saw him, uh,
when he was at Mount Sinai.

He, he had a pole, you know,
he had the pole, you know

with the intravenous
in the bag
and all that stuff

and he had, around the corridors

he had it marked off
to how far was a mile

and he was going down
the corridor.

He was going like this,
and the nurses say

"All he does is, he keeps going
round and round."

So he refused to accept it,
you know, he refused.

He fought like the,
like the devil.

- I don't have a wife,
I don't have any kids

but it -- it's like
nurturing a child.

For 22 years,
that's all I did.

You know, I worked also

but the marathon

is the most consuming thing
in my life.

I've run 68 other marathons,
but never New York City.

A few months ago, I turned 60.

I told myself, "No, no
parties, no receptions.

"I just want
to give myself a gift.

That's to finish
the marathon."

- If visionary race director,
Fred Lebow

manages to cross
his own finish line today

He'll have finally captured
his own American dream.

For 23 years he's staged
New York City's biggest hit.

Today, his entry will provide
a lot of the drama.

[instrumental music]

[crowd cheering]

- I always say that outside
of having my two children

it was the most
remarkable experience

I'd ever witness.

I had the pleasure
and the privilege

to run behind Fred and Greta
in that marathon

and I don't think

anyone has ever gotten
the cheers and support

along the course
that Fred did.

[crowd cheering]

-Jim, we're coming up
on the halfway point

and I really have
to take my hat off to Fred.

He's been clicking off
12-minute miles.

I've seen a lot
of cancer patients in my day

but I haven't seen many
that can do this.

I am truly impressed.

- And to this day
I can barely talk about it

without choking up.

You understood that
it was the ultimate statement

of Fred saying

"I'm alive, I'm here."

And it was then
that I fully understood

that's why all of us
run the marathon.

It's the ultimate way of saying

"I'm alive, I'm here."

[crowd cheering]

* And gravity

* We won't fall

* No we won't fall

* Ha ah ah

* Whatever it takes

* Wherever you are

* We won't fall

* No we won't fall

* Whatever it takes

* Wherever you are

* We won't fall

* We won't fall *

- Fred died two years later.

In his lifetime
he ran 69 marathons

across the world.

The last one
was in New York in 1992.

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

- In the space of a decade

Fred Lebow's
insatiable appetite

had transformed
the New York City Marathon

from a small association
of volunteers

to a large
professional organization

whose revenues swelled

to tens of millions
of dollars.

- To Fred,
money was only a vehicle.

He had no interest in it
personally.

And he, he used money

and greed of others

to create power.

And he thought
he could control it all.

[instrumental music]

- Americans now spend

more than
500 million dollars a year

on shoes to run in.

- The initial few hundred
runners had become

tens of thousand

then, millions worldwide.

All these runners in need
of shoes, clothing and gear

represented a willing target
for all those involved

in the overgrown-business
of running.

[children screaming]

However, for some other people

it spelled the end of an era

and the loss
of the romance and innocence

of the early days.

-Once that exposure started

uh -- uh, and more people
came to it

we were no longer unusual,
we were no longer the freaks.

[speaking in foreign language]

[instrumental music]

[speaking in foreign language]

-Uh, the pressures,
really the commercial pressures

of continuing the magazine

meant that you had to go
look for sponsors.

And the sponsors
always want something

and the sponsors
wanted to sell running shoes

or sell shirts or sell,
you know, uh

vitamins or all this.

And so in a way they sold out

the, you know, the spirits

of the early, you know, uh

uh, spirit of running

to this era of commercialism.

You could argue,
but what could we do?

And In a way I'm glad
that Noel decided to stop.

[speaking in foreign language]

- As running grew

we all kept
congratulating ourselves

that we were in a movement

that was entirely positive

healthy, open, inclusive

raises a lot of money
for charity

helps health, helps society

brings cities
like New York together

is symbolic of freedom

you know, like at Berlin in 1990

all of those
very positive things.

And then we got bigger
and bigger and bigger

and then the crunch came

and we have had to back off
and look at ourselves and say

"It's actually not
all positive

there is a darker side
to what we've achieved."

- Hurricane Sandy
is now approaching

the East Coast of the USA.

People of New York City

are preparing for the crunch.

-We have not experienced
anything on this scale.

-We just want everyone to know

that we are hurting down here
and we need help.

- Mayor Michael Bloomberg
refuses to cancel the marathon

despite New York's struggle

to recover
from the devastation

caused by Sandy.

-Uh, the city of New York
right now

is talkin' about getting
water out of the Battery Tunnel

and preparing for a marathon.

We're pulling bodies
out of water.

You -- you see
the disconnect here?

-Every single person
on this block

lost everything.

[speaking in foreign language]

- I wanna go home,
but there's no home!

I can't go home,
and that's killing me!

-They're gonna run a marathon

and worry about, well,
how many people are in the car

before they're worried
about who's got electricity

and who's got water to drink.

-It's been quite
the last 24 hours

since the mayor decided

that the best thing
for the city of New York

was for the marathon
to go on on Sunday.

They were some tough days.

They were days
where the challenge was

what is the right thing to do
and what's possible..

...for the city, um

and, ultimately, for runners.

-This has always been known

as the greatest day
in the life of the city.

And if this city
is on the road to recovery..

...to show its resilience

to show the world

that this is the greatest city
in the world

then this race goes on.

We were convinced

that the marathon had to go on.

That was the history
of the marathon,
it lifted the city.

And, uh, in hindsight,
we were wrong.

[speaking in foreign language]

-Good evening, Brian,
well, the anger

was really triggered
in earnest today

and a large part,
by these generators behind me.

Race organizers brought
them in to power things

like, like race clocks.

They're large enough
to power 400 homes!

And as the anger grew today,
the mayor had to respond.

Finally, he cancelled the race
late today.

-Thank God!

My reaction is,
I believe they're coming
to their senses

and realizing
that these resources

are gonna be needed
where it's truly needed.

-You don't pull the plug
at the last minute.

He could have made that decision
days and days ago.

-We are very angry.

We spent thousands of dollars
to bring our family here

pay for hotel rooms,
airline tickets.

-We were still
inside at the expo

buying tickets
for the pasta dinner

buying paraphernalia,
spending hundreds of dollars..

[speaking in foreign language]

-Some runners say
they're going home
as soon as possible

others say they're gonna
stay in the city

and try to enjoy it
the best they can.

A few say they're running
on Sunday, 26 miles

even without the race.

[indistinct chattering]

[instrumental music]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

[music continues]

- The marathon movement,
the whole running movement

had to confront the fact

that not everybody loves us.

That...we socially

running had not achieved
all that it could achieve

that socially,
even though we've grown

even though we're huge

we're actually only huge

in a very small segment
of society.

And if you look at the average
income of marathon runners

it's over
a $100,000 dollars a year.

Well, if you're living
on Staten Island, you know

that's, that's
a different planet.

And that's, that's not a

that's not an activity

that you feel you relate to.

[music continues]

And we realized

that we should not
continue to expect

that poor people
will stand along the streets

and cheer for rich people.

[speaking in foreign language]

[indistinct chattering]

[indistinct yelling]

[speaking in foreign language]

[panting]

- You know, it's like
the Robert Frost thing

the road, the road less taken

you can always
go on the road less taken.

[instrumental music]

[speaking in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

-You know, people who go out
every single day

and lookin' at their watches.

Throw the watch away.

[laughs]

Look at the stars
look at the, look at the sky

look at the..

Yeah.

- This sport is still
whatever you wanna make of it.

[music continues]

[instrumental music]

* Hey

* Hey

* Hey

* Remember when
we sat in your car *

* And you told me
all about the stars *

* And how you'd make it
up there one day *

* And I would hum
and whistle through *

* And you would try
to get the tune *

* But you'd never really
heard it anyway? *

* You told me
about the only one *

* Who'd ever really shown you

* Something you had truly
never seen before *

* Up until that very moment

* Nothing else
had seemed important *

* Everyone had disappointed so

* Oh oh oh

* I've been holding you up

* So you'll know

* As the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up

* So you'll grow

* Just as the waves
aren't tied to the shore.. *

- Tamini, well done!

- Well done.

[speaking in foreign language]

- I'm George,
can I have one for me?

- Yeah, please.

[indistinct chattering]

[speaking in foreign language]

My magazine. I have a magazine
a long time ago.

Thirty years ago,
about, uh, about the..

[speaking in foreign language]

All with us, yes, like today.

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
there's a place we *

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
we are the same *

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
there's a place we *

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
there's a place we *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll know *

* As the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll grow *

* Just as the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll know *

* As the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll grow *

* Just as the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* Oh oh

* Oh oh

* Oh oh oh oh

* Oh

* Oh oh

* Oh oh oh

* Oh oh

* Oh oh

* Oh oh oh oh

* Oh

* Oh oh

* Oh oh oh

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
there's a place we *

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
we are the same *

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
there's a place we *

* We all move away
we all change *

* There's a place
there's a place we *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll know *

* As the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll grow *

* Just as the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll know *

* As the waves
aren't tied to the shore *

* I've been holding you up
so you'll grow *

* Just as the waves
aren't tied to the shore **

[music continues]