Running movies have proven popular with Anchorage audiences, and another shows up at Bear Tooth Theatrepub Monday. "Run Free: The True Story of Caballo Blanco" is a documentary based on the best-selling book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. The 5:30 p.m. screening is the final stop on the film's North American tour.
The movie tells the story of Boulder, Colorado runner Micah True, who went to Copper Canyon in Mexico to live and run almost barefoot among the legendary Tarahumara Indians.
The 92-minute film, sponsored by the Anchorage Running Club, is a benefit for the Tarhumara; tickets are $8. It recently won a Spotlight Film Award as one of the 250 best independent documentaries of 2015.
McDougall's book sold more than a half-million copies and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list some four years. It was pivotal in launching the minimalist shoe revolution that prompted some runners to question how much cushioning they really need in a shoe while manufacturers designed an array of next-to-nothing shoes.
True became a cult figure known as "Caballo Blanco." Shunning publicity, he befriended the impoverished Tarahumara and for 10 years organized a race to help support them. Sadly, the 58-year-old died during a trail run in New Mexico in the spring of 2012 after leaving his winter home in the Copper Canyon region of Mexico for his summer home in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado.
A major Hollywood movie on True/Caballo Blanco starring Matthew McConaughey is in the works.
Alaskans have clearly embraced some running films. The movie "3,022 ft" by Anchorage filmmaker Max Romey and Natalie Fedak documented the 2014 Mount Marathon race in Seward and saw a string of Bear Tooth sellouts when it was shown eight times last summer.
Running film fans who miss Monday's show can get their fix with the Jesse Owens biopic "Race" on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Bear Tooth and through Thursday at the Totem Theater in Muldoon.