If life is like a box of chocolates, then you’re in for a treat with this lineup. Watch a friend help his BFF reach his life goals (“How to Run 100 Miles”), a gal running towards making her dreams come true (“Changing Course”), and two funky dudes having fun ultra running (“Keep Ultra Running Weird”).
Filmmaker in Attendance
Five or six years ago, Marti O’Brien was feeling burned out. She was overwhelmed and pushing her friends and family away. Late one sleepless night, she took her dog Obie on a trail run and had an encounter with an owl that stunned her. She said that after that experience, she was never quite the same. Now one of Marti’s favorite ways to unwind, trail running holds a dear place in her heart and she owes it all to the Power of Nature.
The odds were stacked against Jayson Sime early in life: poverty, homelessness, dyslexia, bullying. But he learned to fight, literally and metaphorically, and battled his way to a successful career as a political organizer. In 2017, he entered his first 100-mile mountain ultramarathon, betting on his lifelong resilience to carry him to the finish line.
There’s something oddly romantic about ultrarunning. Sure, to the uninitated that may sound like an intimidating oxymorning, but to the men and women who willingly push themselves to the brink of physical and emotional exhaustion, there’s nothing that quite compares to getting out into remote, wild places on foot.
Clare Gallagher was headed toward medical school, until she realized the path everyone else wanted her to take wouldn’t make her happy. So she took one step back, 100 miles forward, and went in a new direction.