Hi! I was recently contacted to screen ‘From Fat to the Finish Line’ a new motivational film coming out August 2nd. It documents a team of 12 runners doing the Ragnar Relay in the Florida Keys. But, these aren’t just any runners – most of the team members have lost 100 pounds! All of them are either done with or on an amazing weight loss journey.
So there is a ton of inspiration and motivation to go around in this film – their personal stories and their running stories are really awesome.
From Fat to the Finish Line Movie
As each runner is tagged in to run their first leg of the relay you’re introduced to them and hear a little about their life and weight loss successes and challenges.
(via instagram)
Most of the runners are also bloggers! I loved that because I’m always curious to learn more about people in documentaries and feel like personal blogs are the best way to get to know someone. I don’t think anyone’s blog was actually named except for Runs for Cookies though. I wish they would have listed each person’s running or weight loss blog at the end of the movie in the credits.
The team came together from all over the US to run Ragnar Relay Florida. I’m pretty sure they all met online (just like you and me!).
The film wasn’t super dramatic or ‘nail biting’, but realistic – this is what it’s like to run a relay race. It’s awesome and tiring and scary all rolled into one. I felt like it was really relate-able in following everyone on each of the legs of their race because I’ve been there. Sometimes you’re super pumped and sometimes you want to quit and sometimes both of those in one mile!
I’m a big fan of movies that document … um, I don’t know how to say this… real people? normal people? people-y people? running. The vibe at the end didn’t seem as triumphant as Spirit of the Marathon but it was still super motivating – both for the weight loss aspect and the running success of each team member.
And they threw in some eye candy for fun… I mean, they interviewed Runner’s World editor David Willey as he is a very credible resource in all things running and racing.
There are a lot of great things about running a relay but one of the best is seeing everyone’s team name. They are funny and creative and sometimes crazy.
I completely appreciated that one of the runners said the night run was scary. I know! That’s something no one talks about when training for a relay race!!
I’m having flashbacks!! Ahhhh! I can’t handle it.
Overall: I liked it! But I like running and I like documentaries, so I’m the target audience. I’m not sure if my non-running peeps would like it. But I think you might since you read RER and might like stuff I like too.
And this movie totally made me want to run another relay! I’m all pumped and stuff (at least right now). I know I shouldn’t since I get too scared but I want to kinda sorta.
Speaking of relays…
My first relay was Reach the Beach. We actually had a camera crew following us around too.
And I completely lost my shlt during the night run and vowed to never run a relay again.
Then…
I did the Ragnar Relay in SoCal as a last minute add-on a few years ago when one of their runners got injured right before.
And…
Hood to Coast was amazing! It was beautiful and fun and epic with Bart Yasso and tons of Runner’s World staffers on the team!!
The moral of the story is I am all warm and fuzzy about doing a relay race now. But, don’t actually invite me to be on your relay team because I am scared of the dark. And bees. And a whole list of other stuff. The end.
If you want to see From Fat to Finish it is available now (updated).
Question: What is your favorite running movie? What is your favorite documentary??
I’m so glad you liked the film! That night leg was kind of terrifying. I had to run through a swamp and past a prison… by myself… in pitch black nighttime.
If you’re interested in links to the team’s blogs, I have a page on my blog titled “Fat to Finish”–and there is a lot of info there.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the film!
Love me some Ragnar! I’ve done the trail and the street relay both in SoCal. I kind of liked the trial one better because we could camp and feel slightly normal. Climbing back into an SUV after every run did my legs no favors. And then when we were done we were all the way in San Diego! Not sure if I’d do it again, but glad I did for sure. The night runs didn’t scare me, but they were slightly unnerving.
“Undefeated” for favorite documentary.
“Chariots of Fire” for favorite running movie.
I’ve been keeping up with Katie Foster’s blog almost as long as I’ve been reading yours. Really interesting to go all the way back to the beginning of her weight loss story. There was also a great article about the “Fat to Finish Line” group in Runner’s World — Katie was on the cover, I think.
I’ll definitely have to watch for this movie to be released. Great job recapping it. I’ve never done a relay race, but I’d like to give it a try sometime.
The running documentary that comes to mind that I really liked was Desert Runners. And probably McFarland is my favorite running movie.
Oh I wish I could remember the name of this one movie I watched about running- it’s about a coach who came to this one village/town and he coached the track team. The team wasn’t a really organized team at first with no real “gear” (shoes, attire, etc.) but it was such a heart warming great movie!
Relay- the only one we did was the morning relay at Honolulu Ekiden 26.2 miles (with up to 6 team members). It was fun but nothing compared to these Ragnar Relays.
I’ve run a short relay, but never a multiple day one. It looks like fun! I’m always up for running documentaries so I’ll check this out!
I need to watch more running docs. I can’t even think of one I’ve seen off the top of my head. My fave documentary though is definitely Fed Up. I watch it anytime I need to remind myself to stop living off of sugar and bourbon.
I love documentaries! I just watched the first episode of Chelsea Handler’s docu-series and it was interesting & funny. Favorite running movie is definitely McFarland! I live about 45 minutes away from the city and a lot of the guys still run in local races, which is fun to see!
I would totally watch this movie. I am a huge sucker for anything inspirational/motivational ESPECIALLY related to the power of running and fitness. This is my jam. It’s not a running movie but I love Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. It is also motivational and very moving!
https://thedogtribe.com/2016/07/22/summer-shred-workout/
I don’t know why I’ve never heard of any of these kinds of races but they look like they’d be a lot of fun! Maybe I’ll have to start doing some research for one…
I loved Spirit of the Marathon. Did you see Spirit of the Marathon II? It was great and I liked the way they structured it even better than the first one, but they are both amazing. Plus the second one has my running coach, Jeff Galloway interviewed in it, so that is amazing!! I’m not going to lie, whenever we fly somewhere to run a race, I watch one of those movies on the flight to inspire me. Hood to Coast was also a good one for motivation.
Yes! I saw both of those. I liked the first one better though.