Run for Your Life
by Judd Ehrlich
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Alberto Salazar, Bill Rodgers, Ed Koch, Frank Shorter, Grete WaitzDirector: Judd Ehrlich
Brand: GAIAM MEDIA
Cinematographer: Ryo Murakami
Editor: Alison Shurman
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Screen Media
Product features:
- The story of how one immigrant s determination and sweat created the most significant running event in the world. Run for Your Life touches the heart and soul of anyone who has a passion for running, and documents the inspirational life of Fred Lebow and the history of the New York City Marathon. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DOCUMENTARIES Rating:?NR Age:?025195057684 UPC:&nbs
DVD Reviews of Run for Your Life
DVD Review: Big City Marathons Owe A Lot to Lebow and the NYC Marathon
Summary: 4 Stars
I find it fascinating to read or watch documentaries on running in the early days, seeing what they went through and where the sport eventually got to. In Run For Your Life you not only get a biography of Fred Lebow, but you also get a bio of the NYC Marathon. I would dare say also that the big city marathon owes a lot of thanks to the pioneer trail blazed by Lebow and the NYC Marathon, allowing more runners to accomplish something as sweet as running 26.2 miles and making it accessible to all.
What I liked about this documentary were the first hand accounts from all those who were there in the beginning. Those hard core running fanatics who were considered nuts for what they were doing. We got to hear what they did before, during and after the NYC Marathon was started which adds a lot to the history of the sport. Additionally I enjoyed the video footage that helped visualize through the years where the marathon was and what the runners were doing. Arguably you could say that the beginning days of the marathon did a lot in furthering the sport as big name runners such as Rodgers, Salazar and Waitz brought the press in to the mix and in to the public eye.
Some downsides to the documentary, and I didn't find many, were there were some inconsistencies that made you wonder. Would you really tolerate a vendor charging you twice and not only not get upset but think that that made them smart and thus wanted to do business with them? Boston is arguably the more famous marathon in the world and yet they would say that the NYC Marathon is. Why would you go in to a meeting after hearing you lost money and say that you hoped you lost twice as much?
Overall I thought this was a great documentary for the sport and for Lebow and the NYC Marathon. Despite some character flaws you can't help but like Lebow and by the end of the documentary I felt I understood who the man was. Additionally, and this is often how I rate a running book or documentary, I felt like not only running but I wanted to sign up for a marathon and feel the sense of accomplishment all over again. A definite recommend for runners and history buffs alike.
4 stars.
DVD Review: Running at the Mouth ... For hard-core marathon historians
Summary: 2 Stars
"Running for Your Life" is a somewhat tedious documentary about Freed Lebow and his pivotal role in starting and growing the New York City Marathon. The film aims to mythologize and lionize Lebow and aggrandize the NYC Marathon. For example, near the beginning of the movie, one commentator says that the NYC Marathon is the most famous marathon in the world.
Certain folks in Boston might rightly take issue with that.
Lebow to me comes off as a rather pitiable character. No wife. No kids. Married to his job. He pursues serial relationships with young honeys but confesses that, once the thrill of the chase is gone, he gets bored with women. He tolerated selected vendors double-billing and ripping off the Road Runners Club. What a guy!
An undercurrent of this self-absorbed film is the notion that, since the event relates to The Big Apple, it must by definition be hot $%&*. From this movie, you'd think that designing a footrace to run through all five NYC boroughs is up there with the Seven Wonders of the World.
Please!!
After about an hour, the documentary is up to the 1978 NYC Marathon and you may be stealing glances at your watch.
IF you are a hard core historian of distance running lore or of the NYC Marathon, you may enjoy this movie, which only lasts 95 minutes but which, to me, seemed much longer.
DVD Review: Run for your Life
Summary: 5 Stars
A biographical documentary that presents itself as true entertainment. A film that any runner will be interested in, as well as many others who will feel the dedication and passion Fred Lebow had for his calling. DVD Review: Great movie about a great visionary
Summary: 5 Stars
We owe the big-city marathon as it exists today to Fred Lebow, the subject of this documentary. His vision of what he wanted the NYC Marathon to be changed the way marathons are organized around the world.
This film looks at Fred and his life, specifically looking at the period from 1969 (the last year of the Cherry Tree Marathon in the Bronx, the precursor to the NYC Marathon) through the time of Fred's untimely death from brain cancer in 1994. There is amazing archival footage in the film and wonderful interview with those heavily involved in the marathon in the early years.
As a runner and NYC Marathon finisher, I found this film fascinating, though anyone who has an interest in history, New York City, and biographies of interesting individuals would greatly enjoy this movie.
Description of Run for Your Life
The story of how one immigrants determination & sweat created the most significant running event in the world. This documents the life of fred lebow & the history of the new york city marathon. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/28/2008 Run time: 95 minutes Rating: NrBoston may have done it first, but the way Run For Your Life tells it, it was the New York City Marathon that put the idea of the big city road race on the map, in the process adding immeasurably to the popularity of running in general. When it began in 1970, the New York event consisted of four circuits around Central Park, where a few hundred participants shared the roadway with baby carriages and hansom cabs. In 1976, when the race expanded to include all five of the city's boroughs, it attracted some 2,000 athletes, including Olympians Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers (who went on to win it four years in a row); in 2008, the number of runners had grown to 40,000. All of this was due to the vision and persistence of the marathon's founder: Fred Lebow, "a slight, bearded, transplanted Transylvanian" who "ran like a duck, only slower." Born Fischel Lebowitz, Lebow emigrated from Romania to Brooklyn in the 1950s and, following a stint in the garment industry (where he was skilled at copying expensive designs and selling them on the cheap), became a long distance running nut. The many folks--friends, foes, family, politicians, athletes--who talk about him in the course of producer-director Judd Ehrlich's film describe Lebow as everything from a brilliant promoter and entrepreneur to a "chaos creator" and a master manipulator, but they all agree that without him, the New York City Marathon would never have hit its stride. It was Lebow who wooed the sponsors, attracted the best runners (also including Grete Waitz, who won the women's division an astonishing nine times, and Alberto Salazar, another multiple winner), browbeat the city into closing bridges, streets, and such along the route, and dealt with the notorious Rosie Ruiz, who allegedly cheated in the New York race before achieving lasting infamy by "winning" the Boston Marathon in 1980. In fact, Lebow did pretty much everything except compete in his own race, at least until 1992, when he took part a couple of years after being diagnosed with brain cancer (he died in 1994). The documentary includes director's commentary, deleted scenes, and more. --Sam Graham
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Valentino: The Last EmperorPEACE ARCH HOME ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2009-09-08; DVD
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
The Civil War - A Film by Ken BurnsBURNS,KEN; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $35.95
Price in other shops:
On the Road with Charles Kuralt, Set 1Acorn; Release date: 2009-10-27; DVD
Best price: $27.10
Price in other shops:
![The National Parks: America's Best Idea [Blu-ray] Image](/images/The-National-Parks-America-Best-Idea-Blu-ray-B002GWDK6Q-X.jpg){kind=small}
The National Parks: America's Best Idea [Blu-ray]Release date: 2009-10-06; DVD
Best price: $68.53
Price in other shops:
Monty Python: Almost The TruthUni; Release date: 2009-10-27; DVD
Best price: $18.97
Price in other shops:
The Secret (Extended Edition)The Secret; Release date: 2006-10-01; Published: 2006; DVD
Best price: $7.78
Price in other shops:
The CarterHART SHARP VIDEO; Release date: 2009-11-17; DVD
Best price: $13.85
Price in other shops:
Ken Burns: National Parks - America's Best IdeaRelease date: 2009-10-06; DVD
Best price: $60.95
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC SeriesWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $26.67
Price in other shops:
Food, Inc.MAGNOLIA PICT HM ENT; Release date: 2009-11-03; DVD
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The Runner: Extreme UltraRunner David HortonCSDC, INC.; Release date: 2006-01-21; DVD
Best price: $25.00
Running BravePEACE ARCH HOME ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $3.74
Price in other shops:
Marathon ChallengeWGBH HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2008-02-11; DVD
Best price: $10.57
Price in other shops:
Without LimitsTeam Marketing; Release date: 1999-02-16; DVD
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops:
A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets of New Yorkby Liz Robbins
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2009-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
The Long RunUNI DIST CORP. (MCA); Release date: 2002-02-26; DVD
Best price: $1.70
Price in other shops:
PrefontaineTeam Marketing; Release date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $5.09
Price in other shops:
Saint RalphBUTCHER,ADAM; Release date: 2005-12-13; DVD
Best price: $7.15
Price in other shops:
Spirit of the MarathonImage Entertainment; Release date: 2008-10-07; DVD
Best price: $11.24
Price in other shops:
Ultramarathon Man: 50 Marathons - 50 States - 50 DaysChannel Sources; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $15.26
Price in other shops: