

in July, ambitiously chronicles the sport's rise to prominence by tackling several major themes. Free to Run, an IFC film that premiered in the U.S. These days, road running has become such a mainstream pursuit with such low barriers to entry that it can be difficult to imagine a time when the running community was considered a niche subculture. “There weren’t many of us,” he says, “and we were considered pretty odd.” The documentary Free to Run opens with running icon George Hirsch standing on a balcony overlooking Central Park, reminiscing about how, in the late 1960s, he could do a full loop around the park and only encounter a handful of other joggers-most of whom he knew personally.
