Review No.122: Town of Runners

So now we're into the Olympic year we have a couple of films around that are dealing with athletics and while Fast Girls is our own fictional look at female relay running my first running film of the year is Jerry Rothwell's look at a small Ethopian village from which some of the world's best sprinters come. Town of Runners' focus is Bekoji, Ethopia the hometown of such athletes as Kenenisa Bekele who is the Olympic record holder in both the 5000 and 10,00 metre events as well as indoor sprint champions Genzebe and Tirunesh Dibaba. The film is part narrated by young Biruk Fikadu, whose family runs the local grocery kiosk, and he introduces us to two of Bekoji's latest prospect 14 year old Hawi and 15 year old Alemi. From the opening track meet we get the idea that Hawi is by far the superior runner and even garners a bronze medals at one of the regional competitions while Alemi is good but needs practice. As all athletes need a club in order to run professionally the girls' coach organises places in two other Ethiopian associations splitting the friends up with Alemi going to Holeta club and Hawi off to Wolisa. As soon as Hawi gets to her new club we are given the impression that the new purpose built accommodation won't be ready any time soon as the head of the organisation keeps telling them that it will be ready in a couple of days. As months pass we can see her conditioning deteriorating as she no longer has passion for her sport and soon transfers to another club but things aren't much better there either. In contrast Alemi's club harnesses her potential allowing her to push herself to run larger distances and ultimately beat her friend when the two reunite at the final competition in the film.

As we often get the impression that all sports people are overpaid and under-educated sorts, and that is true of some, Town of Runners paints a completely different picture of athletics in particular those who try their best to fulfil their potential. From the offset I really cared about the well-being of both girls and early on Rothwell really gave you the impression that these Hawi was going to be the one to ultimately make a successful go of her running and maybe even qualify for London 2012. Sadly though this wasn't to be the case and I think Town of Runners was it is best when showcasing the lack of funding in these Ethiopian clubs and indeed the need for larger budgets so they can feed their athletes rather letting these teenagers fend for themselves. I feel this was mainly Hawi's story which is a shame as Alemi was also a compelling character and at times I felt that Rothwell's focus was a little skewed as we learnt of Biruk's future something which I cared little about due to him not being an athlete. Rothwell's cinematography is well utilised in the running scenes as we really see how good these girls actually are and are able to compare them to the athletes from Bekoji who have gone on to become successful in their own right. Ultimately Town of Runners gave me a new perspective on some of these African athletes and what they have to go through in order to achieve their dreams so in a way it was an extremely eye-opening experience.

Verdict: While Rothwell does focus on too many characters this is ultimately a fulfilling documentary about the plight of young African athletes and what they have to do in order to take their ability to the next level so for that reason it gets a sporting 7/10