Movies and TvShows featuring "marathon-running" theme.

During the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, one of the most legendary achievements in the history of international sports took place. Spyros Louis won the first official Marathon, leaving everyone speechless and causing great enthusiasm in Greece and abroad. But how an unknown water carrier from Maroussi, who had never participated in a sports game before, achieved such an inconceivable record? The documentary ‘Seven Minutes of Soul’ follows Panos Vlachos’ attempt to explore the exact conditions that led to Spyros Louis’ feat, to try himself in these, but also to shed some light on the most controversial Marathon to date.

Rendez-Vous a Melbourne is the official filmed record of the 1956 Olympic Games in Australia. At the time of its release, there was much controversy in the documentary-filmmaking world over the fact that the Aussies signed over exclusive distribution rights to a French firm, resulting in a boycott from other movie companies. None of this matters when the film is seen today: though not in the same league as Leni Reifenstahl's Olympiad, this 110-minute extravaganza is consistently entertaining. Fifteen cameras were utilized to lens every aspect of the event; it was then up to editors Jean Dudrumet and Monique Lacombe to burrow through miles and miles of film to cull the highlights seen herein. Portions of Rendez-Vous a Melbourne have since resurfaced in practically every Olympics documentary -- not to mention the many TV specials attending the now-biannual event.