Running the Sahara (2007)

In January I ran 23 miles. That is what I typically run in a week, not a month. I'd like to blame school but I think the real culprit is my own unwillingness to head out in the bitter cold weather we have been having. My only consolation is that I have been playing hockey every Wednesday, which helps keep me in shape.

So, looking for some inspiration, I watched Running the Sahara this week. Maybe more appropriate would have been a documentary about running in someplace cold and not the desert. Nevertheless, the documentary did inspire me to lace them up and hit the road/ice for a few miles.

It is hard for documentary that is only about an hour and half to capture the feel and tone of what it is like for three men (Charlie Engle from America, Ray Zahab from Canada, and Kevin Lin from Taiwan) to run 111 days straight from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea in one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet. I constantly felt like I was missing something when the film would jump across periods of days or weeks with barely a mention. Of course, what interest are the mundane aspects of a journey like this? Sleep, eat, run, wash, rinse, repeat...right? Most of the drama in the documentary comes from disagreements between one of the runners and some members of the crew - especially as the expedition begins to take longer than expected and exhaustion and injuries really start to set in.

Along the journey we are treated to some wonderful pictures of Africa and the people who live there. However, most of the attention is on the runners and their drive to complete what they started. Of note is the fact that only one of them is a really accomplished runner who typically finishes a marathon sub-2:20. Ironically, he is the one that has the most difficulty in the beginning and even considers going home. But the team pushes through and finishes something that had never been done by any human previously.

Matt Damon narrates this inspiring documentary about what people accomplish with a strong will and good friends. I'd recommend it for anyone with a passion for running, interest in Africa or a love of socially conscious and inspiring documentaries.

Ray Zahab went on to trek the South Pole. Here is his excellent 6 minute TED talk about it.