Just. One. Mile

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Beans)

This is a running documentary about a race called the Midwest Mile. It’s a 1.1 mile loop, 350 feet elevation gain and loss, and you have 20 minutes to complete it, and the last man standing wins. I don’t know if anyone is gonna watch this but there are a bunch of spoilers ahead.

There were about 100 people that ran it and the final winner ran 111 loops, 123 miles in 38 hours. He climbed the equivalent of Mount Everest and back plus an additional 10,000 feet. So pretty incredible stuff that is hard to wrap your head around.

I have such conflicting thoughts about stuff like this, and it really reminded me of free solo. Like, there is no need to be doing this kind of stuff. It’s so bad for your body and mind and at the end of the day it’s just a dick measuring contest. The main guy is truly a douche bag and I wanted him to lose so badly. He was so cocky and full of himself, he kept saying no one could beat him, he couldn’t die, stuff like that. Humility is a trait I have high esteem for and this man had none.

There were a lot of incredible moments during this race, and I’m always reminded that this sport is bigger than all of us. I was really emotional when I ran my marathon and it was cool to see that emotion in other people. At the beginning of the race one man’s dad was in critical care so he dropped everything to go be with him, even after training for this for a year and half, only to come back after getting a call that his dad was stable, only to get the news later that he ended up passing.

There were some goofy people running it who just got a thrill from the sport and the community. The teams that were supporting the racers were incredible and you got a real sense community and trust and friendship. So while the main character of this doc sucks, the documentary itself was awesome.