Running the Sahara - Documentary

Over the past few days, I have been watching the documentary "Running the Sahara" which chronicles the travels of Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin embark in Africa. The documentary covers their run from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

Now that I have typed my topic sentence written above, I am wondering how to share the rest of what I think about the documentary.

Some parts of the documentary were inspiring. I think the efforts they made to connect with the people along the journey good and especially, when they took time to interact with the children.

But these few shots seem to be interspersed with miles where it was downright painful to watch. Now, I have watched the movie about the Badwater run. And, I also want to add that I have never run 50 miles in one day let along trying to run 50+ miles for over 100 days. So I am sure after a certain amount of time fatigue really becomes a factor. But, there was the physical and mental torture taking place not only on the runners but their support crew as well. I mean I can run from North Carolina into South Carolina and be reasonably sure that I will not get arrested – let alone shot. It seemed like with each peak, valley, and border crossing their travels could have ended less than nicely. All in all it left me wondering if the journey was actually worth it.

Would I recommend watching the document, yes – if you are a runner and if you want to see how far a man can push himself and keep going.

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner