Herts Reels

By James Poole in collaboration with Mix 92.6 FM’s ‘Mix at the Flicks’:

Brittany runs a marathon is a 2019 comedy film, directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo in his directorial debut. Starring Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins and Utkarsh Ambudkar, it tells the story of an overweight lady struggling with substance abuse, who sets out to lose weight, which opens her eyes to the world of marathon running.

This review is being written in alignment with the upcoming Hertfordshire Half Marathon, on November 2nd. Starting in the grounds of the iconic Knebworth House, the road closed event will snake through Hertfordshire’s beautiful country roads in an out and back route, finishing back at Knebworth House.

With an event of this magnitude, that will attract such a wide demographic of people with so many different stories, the question I kept asking myself ahead of this week’s ‘Mix at the Flicks’ was ‘why do we run?’. For some people, running provides a means of being alone to process life events, as was the case in Forrest Gump, when he spent 3 years running across America to process everything that had happened in his life. For others, they run for glory, like Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire. Sometimes, the rush of running even becomes a means of fulfilling other people’s goals, as was the case with Colin Smith in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

What I love about Brittany Runs a Marathon is its simplicity. Our protagonist, Brittany is presented as someone who is overwhelmed by so many problems in life that it’s hard to know where to start. She enters running with no assumption that it will magically resolve all of her problems; she runs to lose weight and feel better about herself. But the feeling she gets after finishing a run, which I think any regular runner can relate to, is so addictive and so powerfully healthy that she simply can’t give it up. With the clarity of mind that running helps her achieve, her problems suddenly start falling into perspective and she feels that little bit more prepared to overcome them.

Something else I genuinely appreciated about this film is the sense of community in runners that this film presented. There’s no one sneering down on Brittany in her first few runs, no one judging her for being slow or being overweight. In another film, Brittany would have been cat called by a passing car or sneered at – in this film, she’s found a community who’ve all done their first run at some point, who’ve all questioned how much further then they can go but who’ve all managed to surprise themselves at some point. Like the runners in this film keep saying ‘the winning doesn’t matter – all we have to do is finish.’ And for any first-time half marathon runners doing the Hertfordshire Half on Sunday, I can assure you as a half marathon runner that this reflection of our community couldn’t be more accurate. All you need to do to gain the respect of our community is simply be there and be willing to give it a go. And the feeling you’ll get after finishing the run cannot be beaten.

Returning to the topic of community, I think the strong sense of community is very powerfully dichotomised by Brittany’s supposed friend, Gretchen. Any time Brittany completes a run, she either subtly minimalizes her achievement or tries to distract her with the damaging habits, such as binge eating, drinking and partying that kept Brittany feeling miserable for so long. You get the distinct feeling that their friendship exists on the basis that Gretchen places Brittany by her side to propel her own self-image. And the film does Brittany the courtesy of not making these habits easy to overcome or even suggesting that she should abandon them altogether. Again, Brittany finds the right moderation through running, which in itself allows her to form a disciplined training programme. By going on a run, she gets the buzz. That buzz takes her a bit further and she runs her first 5K. So why not go a bit further and run a marathon? Wait a minute, gym memberships are expensive, so I need to get a better paying job to afford it. Hang on a minute, I’ve already lost 30 pounds? This sequence of events that Brittany goes through all starts with one run, and yet it feels totally realistic and achievable for its audience.

In essence, this film captures what I would consider a very untold story that happens everyday around the world. The films I mentioned before; Forrest Gump, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Chariots of Fire. These are all outstanding films that have earned their place in film iconography, but they all capture the story of outstanding athletes who the everyday person can’t necessarily relate to. Brittany Runs a Marathon tells a story of a woman who decided to go on a run one day, which starts a sequence of events that changes her life for the better. For anyone attending the Hertfordshire Half Marathon this weekend whose journey started with one run like Brittany, I want to extend my congratulations and wish you the best of luck for the weekend; whatever’s happened for you to get to this stage, you’ve earned it.