The Good & Bad Of Elite Running: What We’ve Been Watching
We’re well into marathon training season, so it’s natural for us all to seek some running content on the days where we’re not quite feeling it and would rather put our feet up. This summer, we’re in luck. Sky Documentaries have released 2 thrilling films that detail both the good side of elite running, and the bad and/or ugly side.
Nike’s Big Bet
An exposé that looks to uncover more of the truth behind Nike’s Oregon Project headed up by controversial coach, Alberto Salazar. The 80 minute film soughts the opinions of athletes who performed under the project as well as high-profile names including Malcolm Gladwell, all in an attempt to decide whether or not a line was crossed. Salazar is currently serving a 4 year ban from USADA (the United States Anti-Doping Agency) for doping violations, announced during 2019’s World Championships in Doha. But he has since been handed a further ban following allegations of bullying.
What was apparent in the documentary was that many still see Salazar as one of the greatest coaches of all time, for his ability to get every ounce of performance from his athletes, similar to the coaching methods of Sir Dave Brailsford and his application of the marginal gains theory. But with these coaching methods, come allegations of ruthlessness which have on occasion been detrimental to athletes wellbeing. In any case Salazar was frequently lauded for his willingness to exploit the rules and the grey areas within them. As it stands, not one of his athletes have ever been found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs.
With all this, the documentary is extremely watchable and offers a surprisingly balanced evaluation of Salazar’s coaching methods, and questions Nike’s willingness to stand by the coach despite the deluge of negative headlines. More recently the company confirmed that it had renamed the Alberto Salazar Building on its Beaverton campus (home of the Oregon Project) to the ‘NEXT%’.
Kipchoge: The Last Milestone
The second documentary to peek our interest is brought to us by the renowned Ridley Scott Creative Group. The film goes into every last detail that it took for Eliud Kipchoge to break the coveted 2 hour barrier in the marathon, even if logged as an unofficial world record, due to the slipstreaming pacers and fuelling strategies.
The Last Milestone (in true marathon style) starts pretty steadily with looks back to Kipchoge’s upbringing and his humble yet impressive history in the sport. This all feels a little slow, with vignettes of ‘the young boy that would run to school every day’ and slow-mo running clips of Kipchoge’s team tearing up the trails of the Rift Valley in Kenya, where they all live and train.
But as we get to that memorable day, 12th October 2019, things start to get interesting. The film deep-dives into every aspect of how the incredible feat was achieved. The ingenious slipstreaming formation, the selection process for the venue: Leopoldstadt, Vienna, the way scientists would collect his discarded gels and water bottles to see how much Kipchoge had consumed and therefore should consume next time round.
The Last Milestone showcased, not only the extraordinary hardwork and talent of one individual, but opened the door on elite sports, the mindsets of the teams and the almost trivial lengths they go to find a second here or there. The team itself was built by the previously mentioned Dave Brailsford who recruited the very best from the world of science and sport, to achieve what has previously been thought of as an impossible achievement. If there’s one film to inspire you to get out and run a personal best this season, it’s this film. It just takes 20 minutes or so to warm up properly, but don’t we all?
