Showdown Race DVD

Got it over the weekend. Some quick thoughts.

  • exact same formula as What It Takes. 5 athletes getting ready for The Big Race. The Veteran (Culpepper), the Up-and-Comer (Ritz), The Superstar (Meb) and the dark horses (Abdi and Torres). A bunch of athlete interviews mixed with some footage of their training and some ongoing commentary by some analysts (some guy from letsrun.com, a writer, Alberto Salazar and a couple other folks)
  • kinda short, only about 70 minutes.
  • Dathan Ritzenheim reminds me of Steve Prefontaine. Not afraid of anybody.
  • Alan Culpepper is a stud.
  • long distance running training is pretty simple (I already knew this!), watching it is really boring.
  • Would have liked to have seen some of their speedwork sessions…
  • The US has some depth… Ritzenheim, Abdi, Meb, Culpepper and Torres, throw in Hall and Goucher…that’s some solid talent right now at 10K and up.

Worth $30?? Not really to be honest. Maybe $20. I enjoyed What It Takes more…

Thanks for the review, JP! I ordered my copy of the DVD 2 days and am still waiting for it. Can’t wait! Should be interesting.