Lincoln County News
By Paula Roberts
January 25, 2008
Maine Runners Make 130 Mile Trek To View Marathon Movie
The spirit of the marathon ran through the veins of seven Maine men on Jan. 24, as they made the pilgrimage from Bar Harbor to Brunswick to watch the one day showing of the long awaited film, "Spirit of the Marathon". The men ran over 130 miles in seven legs as a silent tribute to the devotion of all those who train and run the marathon.
Two local men, former Medomak Valley High School running stars Jeff Sprague, of Wiscasset, and Robert Gomez of UMO, ran a leg in the unique journey. Sprague ran the longest and final 23 mile leg of the relay from Damariscotta's Lincoln Theater to Brunswick. Gomez ran from Alamo Theatre in Bucksport to the Colonial Theater in Belfast, a distance of 19 miles.
Sprague and Gomez's running club, Spudland Racing Club, joined forces with another running club Crow Athletics of Mt. Desert Island in the relay. Seven runners completed the trek, handing off to the next runner in line at movie theatres from Bar Harbor to Damariscotta. In Lincoln County, there were handoffs at the Waldo Theatre in Waldoboro and the Lincoln Theater. The runners and support staff arrived in Brunswick at the Regal 10 Theater to view the movie "Spirit of the Marathon", which showed on Jan. 24 in select theaters across the U.S.
"The only showing of the movie is today It's only happening today," Gary Allen said, who ran the first 20 mile leg of the relay from Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor to Grand Theatre in Ellsworth. He left Bar Harbor at 2:30 a.m. and had the coldest leg of the journey. "It was 12 degrees when I hit Ellsworth."
"It is a pretty amazing film. It was four years in the making, it's pretty inspiring. Jeff (Sprague) and I were talking on line, and came up with the idea, how cool would it be to show the true spirit of the marathon and run there, from Bar Harbor to Brunswick. Jeff and I started talking about unique things (between Bar Harbor and Brunswick) and came up with small independent theaters, vintage movie theatres."
"Spirit of the Marathon" is a non-fiction film that captures the essence of the famed 26.2 mile marathon. It was filmed on four continents and features the emotional ups and downs of preparing for the famed Chicago Marathon. The film takes a close and personal look at the marathon.
Sprague and Gomez ran their first marathon in Chicago on Oct. 7, 2007. Gomez is a University of Maine Student, formerly of Waldoboro. Gomez finished the Chicago Marathon in 3:04.08 and Sprague in 3:20.32, in record high temperatures. "There is a special connection," Gomez said of running the Chicago Marathon and running on a leg on Jan. 24 to watch the movie, "although the movie was shot a year before we ran."
Of his run from Bucksport to Belfast, Gomez said, "It went wonderfully. It is not every day you get to participate in something like this. It went as well as can be expected in weather like this." Gomez said it was 20 degrees with intermittent snow. He ran two years at Medomak Valley and two years at the Maine School for Science and Math where he won two State Class D championships. Both Gomez and Sprague hold many records in local 5K, 10K and 3-mile road races.
Their 130 mile quest has not gone unnoticed. "Word has gotten out to the producers of the film. Producer Gwendolen Twist heard what we were doing and was blown away by it. Everyone on the cast and crew of the movie are excited. They loved the theater-to- theater thing. Bringing attention to the old gems is a great thing. Director Jon Dunham is beside himself with excitement. You all are amazing, he said by email. We got the email from the director of the film while sitting in the parking lot in Damariscotta. This thing keeps growing," Allen said.
"A lady named Eve from Los Angeles emailed and said there are big plans afoot for us in Brunswick, with a welcoming committee, food, movie concessions and finish line. She said they were going to make sure we are recognized. And all's we thought was, we just wanted to go for a run and watch the movie," Allen said.
"We're declaring the movie the best one we've ever seen, before we've seen it. So we made an Oscarette to hand off between runners," Allen added. The runners' version of the Oscar award is a Barbie doll spray painted gold.
Allen said the runners and support staff (Mary Ropp and Patrick Allen) have received wonderful support along the route, in the form of food, water and cheers. The white support car was easy to spot with it's red lettering, "130 miles or bust, Bar Harbor to Brunswick," and "How far would you run to see a movie?" painted on the sides and hood.
"The amazing thing is the word or mouth thing. We never asked for the excess media attention. We just said let's run to Brunswick, simply because we can," Allen said. The idea of running from Bar Harbor to Brunswick "happened so quick we haven't added a lot of hype about it," Allen added.
All seven runners made a ceremonial run in with Sprague at the Regal 10 Theater. "We got in about 6:05, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The run went well, until I hit Wiscasset. I forgot all about the BIW traffic. The shoulders were a little icy with the snow," Sprague said.
The runners were welcomed at the theater and given reserved seats. Sprague said the movie "was excellent. It was a nice documentary of three or four average runners and two elite runners. It went through the whole process runners go through from the elite to the average Joe," in getting ready for a marathon. "It was a fun time. It'll be a fun story we can pass on to other clubs. We just started talking about it a week and a half ago. A lot of times you make up plans and don't follow through. This time we did. It was nice to go to the different historic theaters along the Maine coast. It was kind of neat," Sprague added.
Due to overwhelming demand, the Spirit of the Marathon will be shown again on Feb. 21, including at Regal 10 Theater in Brunswick at 7:30 p.m. The film is a collaborative effort of three-time Academy Award winner Mark Jonathan Harris, Telly Award winner and marathon runner Jon Dunham and producer/ marathoner Gwendolen Twist.
The seven Maine runners completing the trek from Bar Harbor to Brunswick were Gary Allen (20 miles Criterion Theater Bar Harbor to Grand Theater Ellsworth), Roger Marquis (19.6 miles Ellsworth to Alamo Theatre Bucksport), Robert Gomez (19 miles Bucksport to Colonial Theatre Belfast), Joe Dunton (18.1 miles Belfast to Bayview Street Theater Camden), Scotty Dority (19 miles, Camden to Waldo Theater Waldoboro), Paul Fagan (10.6 miles, Waldoboro to Lincoln Theater Damariscotta) and Jeff Sprague (23.8 miles Damariscotta to Brunswick).